A man's final Mission
by MidgetWarlord
Summary: This is a story about a man that is chased into the middle of a stuggle between wolves. A new, tyranical leader of the Eastern Pack tries to wage war on them, and even sends assasins! What will Blake do? Find out! ON HOLD
1. Chapter 1

**Again, please don't judge to harshly about my choice to make this story, I saw opportunity and I'm taking it. If you like it, great, if you don't, you don't have to read it. And if you didn't read my last story, it means YOU looked this up on your own.**

 **Also, this is a work-in-progress and not to terribly organized, but neither was my last one, and I don't think it turned out bad, right? Well, I'll be including some music into these, and while I will put a note at the beginning of each of those chapters, I will say right now,**

 **They are not mine, they belong to whoever I tell you they do, and that these songs are some of my favorite, as are the writers, so I respect them, and their work completely.**

 **And a quick reminder, I will get back to writing that second Spyro Story, but right now I need a break, something new. And this is the new.**

 **SERRA! IF YOUR READING THIS, I WILL FIND OUT, AND I WILL TAKE YOIR TABLET! AND YOUR AT SCHOOL, GET TO WORK! OR GO TO SLEEP IF YOUR IN BED! AND IF YOUR SITTING WITH NOTHING TO DO… Find something to do? I don't know…**

 **Enjoy the story! And there will be just a quick 1st person explanation of what's happening, but it will change to a more General View soon, and it will be most of the story.**

Hello, my name is Blake Adamson. I am 27 years old, and have a fairly thin frame. But don't mistake my thin structure as a weakness! While there might not be much meat on these bones, it's just about entirely muscle, and I know how to use it!

I enlisted to become an Air force pilot when I was 22. I passed basic training, and started officer school when I was 23 and passed flight training at 24. I was trained to use an F-35B Lightning II, which is a stealth Multirole Fighter, capable of Ground attack and Air Defense.

That's a lot of information, but it really isn't important, because on June 13th, 2016, I was shot down by unknown hostiles. I was flying over to a base to escort a supply plane, but was caught in a dog-fight.

It was me verses 4 Other planes. They were Russian. But the pilots were not Russian, as the planes had been stolen months ago, according to the Russian government.

I mean absolutely NO offence against Russia or it's people, it's just a story.

I took down 2 of the 4, but was still shot down. I was in the middle of the desert, wandering, waiting. 3 days later, I showed up in a small village, and was nursed back to health. I was stuck there for a week, before a random Marine Patrol came to the village.

I had a broken leg, cracked ribs, and PTSD. When my superiors asked how I could have gotten PTSD in a simple dog fight, my answer was always,

"You haven't clue what I went through." and walked away. He was discharged a week after returning, having been deemed unfit for combat.

And that brought him to where he was today, neck deep in someone else's shit.

Now the story begins, and the first person POV is done.

Here he was, running through the woods somewhere in Canada. He lost his map 3 days ago, when he had to break camp in a rush.

The reason he was in trouble, was because of one of his Roommates. He had an apartment after he came back, and couldn't afford rent on his own, so he shared one. The man was the worst possible person to live with.

He was a heavy Drug user, and gambled. One year ago, his roommate overdosed, and all his dept went to Blake's shoulders, because he was the next closest thing to family. The drug Lord came after Blake, demanding for him to repay, or die.

So he ran. He has been running for the last year, from California all the way north. He had evaded capture this long, but that might change soon.

He was running down a path, with the sounds of shouting men.

One moment, he was running, the next he fell flat on his face. In his panic, he didn't pay attention to anything. He was angry with himself, as he heard footsteps behind him before he could recover.

"I've got 'im!" a voice called, and he felt a boot on his back, and heard a gun being loaded.

"Don't move." The voice warned, and he complied, still lost in his thoughts.

He waited there for 2 minutes before more people showed up. He hadn't seen any of them, but he could hear their heavy footsteps.

He felt himself being hauled to his feet, and he looked at them. He only saw a quick glance, before a bag was put over his head. He saw 3 men, all of them armed, and all of them ugly.

He was dragged about a hundred feet, before he felt Asphalt below his feet. A road. He heard a door slide open, and a voice say, "Bring him in, and take the bag off. Then get back to the divers seat. I'll let you know when we're done."

He was hauled up and into the van, and thrown to the ground. All through this, he was calm. The bag was taken off, and rather than a blinding light, he found it was dim inside the van. He looked around, and saw 2 men, only one of them was from the woods, the other was new.

"Who are you?" Blake asked, and the man laughed.

"I am surprised to see you don't even know the name of your Pursuer." He said with a heavy Spanish accent.

"So you're the man. Well, I have one thing to tell you, I'm not your guy! I had nothing to do with my roommate's business! Leave me out of this!"

The man smiled evilly and chuckled.

"Now, now, that's no way to talk of your friend."

"He wasn't my friend, he was a burden." Blake said Coldly.

The man's smile disappeared, and he said,

"In any case, you are still the only one who knew him, he cheated me, and I promised to remove all memory of him. And, unfortunately for you, you remind me of him, so you must be removed. It isn't personal."

"Then why not kill me quick?" He said, with a note of pleading in his voice.

"Because his death was too quick, and for what he did, someone has to suffer. Again, it's not personal, so I won't make you suffer TOO badly." He said, before punching him in the gut. Very hard.

This barrage of punches continued for some minutes, before the man stopped. He turned to the other man, the one from the woods, and asked,

"Is there anything nearby? Anything… interesting… and something I don't have to watch? I have shit to do."

The man looked at a fold-up map he had, and studied it a moment. Soon, his finger pointed to a spot.

"There is a large nature reserve nearby, it's inhabited by wild wolves. It's called…. Ah, here it is! It's called Jasper Park!"

The man nodded, and turned back to Blake, and shrugged before hitting him below the jaw. Blake realized that the man was trying to knock him out, so he went along, and fell limp to the floor. He listened carefully to the conversation, as the man explained more about the park.

"There is only one ranger station, so we can drop him on the opposite side of it."

"Well, what's stopping him from just going the other way, instead of into the park?"

"There isn't another road or house for 300 miles in that direction, and the Ranger Station will be 187 Miles from where we drop him, but it's not like he will know this."

"Ok, but you said something about wolves, right? That would be perfect, a moderately painful death for him, and I don't have to sit and watch."

The man said, "Yeah, it's got a decent wolf population, so they would have no problem finding and killing him."

"Its perfect. Let the driver know."

Half an hour later, the van stopped. The man with the map began folding the map up, and went to slip it into his pocket, when the leader told him to open the door. Quick to comply with the order, he missed his rear pocket and didn't notice the map fall to the floor.

Blake looked at both men, and seeing that none were watching, his hand darted out and snatched the map. He quickly hit it in his sleeve, and played unconscious again.

He felt himself being picked up, and thrown out of the van. He heard the door close, and the van drive away. He waited until he no longer heard the van before moving.

He jumped up, and ran far enough into the trees that he wouldn't be visible to the road, and stopped, taking out the map. He studied it closely, trying to locate where he was.

"Ok, so if this is the Ranger Station," he said, Pointing to a place on the map, "And I am 187 miles away…" he began to move his finger downwards, using the scale to measure how far it was, "I should be right… about… he-" but stopped. He saw something on the map. It almost perfectly blended in with the colors. It was a strange Icon, so he looked in the map key.

"Ranger Station… Under Construction?"

He wasn't sure if he could find anyone there, but he would have to try. And it was only 22 Miles away! He looked to the obstacles in his way, and saw only what looked like a small valley and a river. The river would be the only possibility of difficulty, as the map didn't tell him how wide the river was. It could have been 5 feet, or 50 feet, for all he knew.

"Only one way to find out.." He whispered to himself, before folding the map, and putting it into his pocket. He made sure the map went into his pocket, and looked to the sky. It was around Mid-Day, so he would have to stop somewhere to rest before he made it to the site.

One part of him said not to stop, and another told him he needed the sleep, especially after that beating. He then realized just how beaten up he was. His body hurt, and bled, in numerous places. He began to doubt he would make it even to the Under-Construction Ranger Station.

He still had to try. He would not give in, not after all he had done.

Wait, what HAVE I accomplished? He thought, but pushed the thoughts aside, and began limping off towards his destination.

He walked for nearly 2 hours before he felt he couldn't go further. He found a rock, and sat down pulling out his map. He figured, that by the rate he was walking, and how long he had been walking, that he was coming up on the valley soon, maybe another 15 minutes of walking.

He forced himself to stand up, and begin walking, because the prospect of finding a cave to sleep in was much more inviting than out in the open.

But first, he would have to cross that river. And that could be a problem for him. But still, he pressed on.

He reached the river, and his spirits lifted, seeing that the river was merely more than a creek, and only 13 feet wide. He walked over to the bank, and knelt down, sipping cautiously at the water. Having not tasted anything that could indicate bad water he drank slowly. Not that he could tell anyways, but it felt good to be a little re-assured.

He's stood, and looked around. He was startled when he heard an ear-shattering scream. A woman's scream, he realized. He was off in an instant, running towards the sound, forgetting all memory of pain as he raced on, his mind filled with a new mission;

Save who ever it was in trouble.

He ran for about a minute before the scream was heard again, but much closer, and was followed by a "Help! Help me! Please!"

He ran faster.

Within seconds, he came to a small clearing in the trees, right next to the river. He saw a confusing and alarming sight.

There was a Grey, almost white, wolf, it looked to still be slightly a puppy, but not quite a puppy, and it was being backed up to the river's edge by a bear. It wasn't a very big bear, but it was larger than the Wolf.

He had never actually seen a wolf before, but he had always admired them. Then again, who doesn't? They are smart, resourceful, and work in teams with family.

He thought that maybe he should keep looking for the source of the scream, but something told him it came from here, even though there was nothing here that could scream.

Or so he thought.

But regardless, he jumped into action, starting by grabbing a large stick. He then quickly jumped over the bear, jumping off of it's back, and landing in front of the Wolf. He realized the Wolf was a little smaller than he thought, and when he turned to face the bear, he realized it was larger than he thought.

The bear paused momentarily, confused at the sudden arrival of a new creature. It snarled, and advanced again. Blake swung the stick, hitting the bear on the nose.

The beer paused again, confused. Then it released the loudest roar Blake had ever heard, startling him. He frowned, and actually yelled back at the bear, taking a step forward. His intimidation tactic failed, but that was only half of his plan.

He stabbed with his stick, aiming for the eyes. It hit one, and blood instantly spurted out, and the bear reared back in pain. Blake advanced on the bear, knowing it would only come back at him angry, and didn't let up. He swung the stick over and over, with all his strength, aiming for its head and legs.

Soon, just when the bear was on the verge of giving up, there was a loud snap. Blake looked down, and saw a stump of the stick he once had.

"Uh oh." He said, and began to back up. The bear, seeing his chance, advanced. Blake looked behind him to see the Wolf still sitting there, frozen in place. He stopped moving a moment, and chucked the stick at the bear's head.

It missed, but still distracted the bear, which was all he needed.

He quickly turned and dove for the water, picking up the Wolf as he went past. He saw the panic in the Wolf's eyes and it yelled, "No!" and confused him. However, not for long, as they were soon both in the cold, churning water.

Woah, it may not be wide, but it sure is fast… and cold, he thought to himself. Then he began to panic, as he no longer felt the Wolf nearby him. He swam upwards, and broke the surface, looking around. He could not see any signs of the Wolf.

He was about to go back under the water, when he saw a quick splash to his right. He didn't see what it was, as it disappeared below the surface. He made his way over in that direction, hoping it wasn't just a fish he saw. He dove under the water, and rather than look for the Wolf, he felt around under the water, waving frantically.

He considered opening his eyes, but he knew he wouldn't see anything. A moment later, his hands touched something. It was furry, and slightly warm. He grabbed on with both hands, and kicked with his feet to reach the surface.

Progress was slow with the extra weight, but soon, he felt the air again. He breathed deeply, and looked to see what it was he held.

To his relief, it was the Wolf. He kicked his way to shore, the opposite one from the bear, of course, finding a low bank, and pushed the Unconscious wolf onto it. He then dragged himself out, and picked the Wolf up and walked. He hadn't taken 3 steps before he realized the wolf wasn't breathing. His eyes went wide, and he set the Wolf down, not knowing what to do.

So he did the only thing he knew how to do… which was CPR.

It was a struggle at first, but he soon found a rhythm that worked. He avoided the Mouth to mouth part as long as he could, but when he saw it wasn't working, he felt he had no choice, he had to know if he really had heard this wolf speaking.

He completed 2 Sets before the Wolf finally spurted up water and took in a breath. It was still sleeping, but atleast it- she- he corrected himself, was breathing.

He stood to pick her up again, but instantly fell to the knees again. The adrenaline had worn off, and he felt everything, the pain, the exhaustion, and the cold.

He knew he would have to find shelter from the weather, but he couldn't stand. He laid down, but tried the fight it.

I have to go on… but it's so late… I'm so tired… it's so warm…

He passed out.

He woke again, after who knew how long, to find darkness and cold, but most of all, Hunger. He groaned when he moved, as his sore and tired body creaked in protest. He looked around, and saw he was alone. At first, he thought nothing of it, as this was how he woke most days. But then, it hit him.

Where was the wolf?

He scanned his surroundings again, and saw no signs of it. He sighed, and said,

"At least she didn't eat me."

He stood, and flinched as his sore muscles protested. He pulled the map out of his pocket, and carefully unfolded the soggy paper. He looked it over once, and then set off.

He had to reach his destination soon, or he would freeze to death. Or get eaten by animals, he reminded himself.

The moment this thought came to his mind, he heard a loud roar behind him. He slowly turned, and saw a terrifying sight: the very same bear from the other side of the river, charging at him full speed.

He groaned, and took off the other direction. It was hard at first, but his body warmed, and running became easier. He ran for the tree line, and the moment he made it, he turned. He chose the right moment, because the bear went right past him, and into a tree.

He knew he wouldn't out-run the bear in a straight line, so he continued his tactic, but there was really only one direction he was going.

Unfortunately, he soon came a place in the forrest where the trees formed a practical wall on one side, and smooth rock made the other, creating a straight path.

"Shit" he whispered, and took off, as fast his legs could possibly go, but when he heard the bear crash into the "Natural Hallway" right behind him, he went even faster. He saw a break in the trees ahead, and made for that.

The moment he came close, he noticed half a dozen wolves walking through it. He let yelped in surprise and fear, and he re-directed. He turned to look as he went past, and saw all their eyes lock with his, and he saw surprise in their eyes.

Had he looked harder, he would have seen the Female Wolf he saved earlier.

He kept running, and noted that the bear was too focused in him to notice the wolves, much to his disappointment, as the wolves would fare much better against the bear than he.

He finally came to a clearing, and studdied it. It wasn't much better. It was a cliff. It had a great view, but not what he needed. He looked over the edge, and miraculously, there was a path leading down. It winded back and forth, but it would do. He scrambled onto it, and made his way down.

Soon, he heard the bear behind him. He didn't know just how the bear managed to get onto the narrow path, but didn't worry about it. He had bigger problems.

The path ended, and he was still 30 feet off the ground.

He was relieved to see yet another miracle (Not that the false path was considered a miracle anymore). It was a tree root sticking out the side of the rock face. He readied himself, and jumped off, grabbing the root. It moved slightly, but held firm.

He turned his head, and saw the bear had reached the end of the path, and was staring at him. It reached its paw out to swipe at him. It came close. Too close. He began kicking at the bear, and yelling,

"God damn it! Why- won't- you- give- UP!"

The bear roared furiously, and finally got a hold on him. It dragged him closer, and opened its mouth to finish him. He looked frantically, and saw a loose rock in the wall. He reached for it, and pulled it loose. It was sharp, he realized.

He grinned, and stabbed the bear through the throat. The bear paused a moment, but then a determination filled it's eyes.

Blake realized this bear would kill him, regardless of if it died or not. He quickly retrieved the knife (it is only a rock, but knife is easier to say than the sharp rock) and began cutting the bear's paw and leg, causing the bear reared up, dropping him to the cold stone.

He almost slipped off the edge, but recovered. He was on his feet instantly, and stabbed the bear in the chest multiple times. The bear roared loudly once, and fell backwards.

Blake felt victorious.

Until, that is, the bear's corpse began sliding down the steep slope of the path.

"No no no no no no" he said, as he was slowly pushed backwards. He jumped backwards, grabbing the root. The bear fell, and he watched it fall.

His attention was instantly drawn to the sound of footsteps on the path. He turned quickly to see a wolf staring at him, causing him to jerk slightly. This caused the root to creak and jerk as well. He looked up at the root to see a crack in it.

"Oh, now you choose to break." He whispered to himself. He heard another voice,

"What?"

He turned and saw that it was, in fact, the wolf that had spoken. Then, another wolf came up behind that one. It was the female he saved earlier.

"Daddy, please save him!" she yelled, confusing Blake on the wolf's age.

"Uh…" the other wolf said in an old, but strong voice. Blake scanned his current situation, the path was too far, so he looked behind him. His eyes locked on a specific place, and he began shifting on the root.

"Woah, woah, don't move that root will break." Warned the wolf, but Blake kept moving, and soon he had his back to the wolf. He began swinging back and forth, and each time the root lurched more and more.

The wolf looked for what the human was trying to get to, and his eyes found it. In a place where the cliff jutted out, not a small part, but rather the entire cliff just stuck out. And on this, a small ledge, about 3 inches wide was located.

"Uh, you won't be able to stand on that." The wolf said.

Blake spoke between swings, "I… Don't… Plan… to… Stand… on…" CRACK!

The root snapped.

"Woah, shit!" He yelled, as he flung his hands out to try and grab the ledge. He caught it, and the rest of his body swung towards it, smashing into the rock wall. The wolf winced, and watched the human.

A small groan was the only thing that happened, and Blake did not move.

"Are you ok?" asked the wolf.

Blake replied with a raspy voice, full of sarcasm and pain, "Oh, I'm fine, not like I'm dangling here like an idiot or anything."

The wolf ignored the comment, and said, "Well I can no longer help you, your on your own."

"That's fine, I've been on my own the last 2 years of my life."

The wolf snorted lightly, and sat down, interested to see how the human would get out of this.

Blake looked around, and saw another handhold. He dropped to it, and looked for another one. He repeated the process multiple times, until eventually, the inevitable happened.

He ran out of handholds.

He scanned the entire wall, and there were none, he had nowhere to go. He hung his head, thinking he was done. He opened his eyes, and saw the ground, only 5 feet from his feet. He sighed, slightly embarrassed, and dropped to the ground.

He looked up to the ledge, and saw the wolf was gone, but he hadn't noticed the Wolf leave. He shrugged, but then heard footsteps behind him he turned around, and saw the same 6 wolves running towards him.

He wanted to run, but at the moment he thought of running, he again felt the Adrenaline's effect disappear. He felt all the pain at once. He had a headache, and his clothing was ripped and torn, and through these, one could see bleeding cuts. His arms were covered in cuts, most bleeding. His face had a large bruise, but most of it was covered in blood, which still flowed from his nose. And to top it off, his eyes were bloodshot, and eyelids droopy.

"Woah…" said one of the random wolves.

"Can you still walk?" asked the one that met him at the pathway. Blake said nothing, but nodded.

He took one step, and stumbled. He was out before he hit the ground, and the warmth and relief of sleep claimed him.

 **Pretty decent first chapter if I do say so myself. Leave comments, tell me your thoughts, and I hope you enjoyed!**


	2. Chapter 2

Blake awoke, but kept his eyes closed. It was his training military training that told him to gather all information he could before whoever had him knew he was awake.

His breathing even, and ears tuned to the slightest noise. It was quiet for some minutes, before he heard the clacking of dog paws on the stone floor.

"He's still asleep?" said a familiar voice, but the reply was an unfamiliar voice,

"He went through a lot, his wounds were extensive. I'll be surprised if he were to wake today at all!"

He was no longer sleepy, but fully awake, as he studied his condition. His body still hurt, but it appeared that his wounds had healed somewhat. He still had his cloths on, but it was obvious they had been taken off recently, as his shirt was on backwards, and his belt missing.

He heard the steps recede, and He was alone again. He opened his eyes, and lifted his head. He was in a cave, and it was warm. He noticed that he had a blanket, or, an attempt at a blanket. It was actually just branches piled ontop of him.

He realized that these wolves really meant no harm to him, as they hadn't killed him, offered to help, healed his wounds, and even made him a blanket! Even if it wasn't effective, they still tried. He heard more approaching the cave again, so he played asleep again.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to throw water on him? He might get cold again."

"I know, but we need him to wake."

"Alright, on 3. One… two…" but they got no further, as Blake shot away, fearing to become wet again.

"Woah! WOAH! No more water! I'm awake!" He yelled, looking at the two wolves, who held a bucket between each other. They dropped the bucket, and one said in a feminine voice,

"Ok, fine, no water. Just calm down." The wolf then turned to the other one, and said, "Go tell Winston he's awake." The wolf nodded and left.

Blake was beginning to calm down, until he realized that his feet were tied.

The wolf noticed him looking at the rope binding his feet.

"How did you manage to do that…" he whispered, and she replied,

"With great difficulty. Don't move, don't try to escape, and don't try to harm any of us. If you do, you will be hunted down and killed. Would you like a drink?"

He was shocked by how her attitude changed so fast,

"Just like every woman I've ever known." He whispered to himself.

"What's that?" she asked.

"Nothing. I would like some water." He said quickly. She pushed the bucket closer with her nose.

He lifted it, and took a long drink. His training prevented him from drinking lots of it.

"Where am I? How long have I been asleep?" He asked, his thirst slightly quenched.

"I'm not allowed to tell you where you are, but you where asleep for 3 days."

He chocked on some water when he heard that.

"3 Days?" He asked, and she nodded.

Blake noticed that she was studying him, and asked,

"What are you thinking?"

She looked surprised, but quickly recovered and said, "Nothing, just zoned out for a moment."

Blake didn't believe it for a second, and he made a face that said it. She sighed, and said, "Fine, you caught me. I was just wondering how you managed to go on with your wounds. You seemed to have them for a while, and according to Lily, you did very well even with your injuries."

"Who's Lily?"

"Oh, sorry, the name of the Wolf you rescued, she is the Pack Leader's daughter. Er, one of his daughters."

He nodded, then asked, "What is your name?"

She paused before answering, but soon said, "Elena"

"Nice to meet you, Elena. My name is Blake Adamson." He said, putting his hand out, but then realized that she wouldn't know what that meant.

"Well, nice to meet you too, but right now you have a problem." She said. When she didn't add, Blake asked,

"Would you mind telling me what this new problem is?"

She seemed to consider it for a moment, then said,

"Your problem is the fact that none of us trust humans, and your life is going to be debated on."

"Excuse me?"

"They are going to decide weather you live or die, and you might have a chance to argue your own point, so if I were you, I would prepare."

"Wait a second, what do you mean 'MIGHT' get to argue my point?!" He yelled, and she growled.

"It's better than not getting to do it at all."

He rolled his eyes, and sat back against the wall. He listened as the wolf walked out of the cave, then went to work on his bonds. He would not sit there while a bunch of animals decided his fate!

He didn't know where they found the rope, and it was well constructed, but not well tied. He knew the cave would be guarded, so he didn't bother taking it off yet, but he did loosen it to the point that it could slip off at a moment's notice.

And then, he waited. He waited for whoever it was that would decide his fate, not that he would allow it. He of course didn't believe he could overpower the wolves, but at least he would go down on his own terms, and fighting.

He wasn't kept long, and soon he heard the sound of footsteps approaching. They walked in, and Blake seemed uninterested.

"Hello, my name is Winston, I am the Pack leader. This is my mate, Eve. And my two daughters, Kate and Lily."

He looked up at that name, and saw the same wolf he saved, and the other he saw at the path. He stared at them for a moment, as the wolves obviously waited for him. After a moment, Winston asked,

"And your name is?"

But Blake didn't answer, he just sat there staring at each of them in turn. Finally, the wolf called Eve growled, and said, "You are to speak when spoken to!"

But he merely shifted his gaze to her, and locked it. He said nothing, but the look in his eyes said it all.

I don't care what you think, is what the look said. She snarled, but did not move. Next, Lily spoke,

"Thank you for saving me." She said, with a large smile. Blake smiled back, and said,

"Your very welcome, it was my pleasure."

She smiled broadly, and giggled, and Blake couldn't help but smile even brighter. The others now looked even more annoyed, and Eve looked even more Pissed off. She started saying,

"You understand that we are here to-"

"I don't care. I'm not letting YOU choose how I die! I've come too far in life, survived so much hell, so much pain, and I've fought my way through too many impossible situations for someone like YOU to kill me on your terms." He said, each word growing with anger.

By this point, Eve was trembling with rage.

"You think you can stop us fr-" but he interrupted her again,

"No, I don't think I can stop you. But you can be damned sure I'm going to go down fighting."

She paused a moment, and Winston stepped forward, saying,

"Let's all stop before this gets out of hand."

"Agreed." Blake said, then added, "So are you going to try to kill me? Or what?"

"Of course we're not! You saved our daughter! That's something I can never repay you for, but we just have to be sure we can trust you."

"Trust me for what? Why not just send me on my way?"

The wolf sighed, and said, "Well, we may need your help soon. I saw the way you fought that bear, and we might be able to use your skill in fighting."

"Why should I help you?" He asked stubbornly.

"Because if you don't, all of the rest of us will die." He said, catching Blake's attention.

"What? What kind of threat-" but he was cut off by the sound of running feet, and a voice that called,

"Winston! We have a problem!"

A wolf ran in, breathing heavily.

"What's wrong?" Winston asked, concerned.

"You'll just have to come look." He said, and Winston nodded, and they all walked out of the cave, leaving him alone. Blake stood, and silently followed them out of the cave. He stopped at the edge, and looked around.

It was absolutely beautiful. He pushed the thoughts aside, and watched the group. They walked up to another, smaller group of wolves. He couldn't hear anything being said, but could tell that the topic was not a good one. After a few minutes of talking, they started coming back, while the other wolves left. Blake ducked to avoid being seen, and ran back into the cave and sat down in the same place, and replaced the bonds.

They walked back in, and Winston looked angry.

"Now what's the problem?" He asked.

Winston shook his head angrily, and said,

"The Eastern Pack is sending threats."

"Uh…" Blake said, not knowing how to respond. Winston realized he was not aware of their struggle, and sat down to explain.

"Well, they used to be lead by a reasonable wolf. He had a good son, but… they both died. Drowned. And the wolf that took over, Austin, is a tyrant. He wants our land, and is willing to go to war over it. He has now started threatening me and my family. This is why we need you. We will not leave, but he outnumbers our pack 2 to 1, and we have no chance of winning."

Blake thought a moment, and then said, "I'll help you, but I need weapons."

"Not yet. You haven't earned the trust of having a weapon yet." Eve said.

"Well how am I supposed to fight?"

"You'll figure it out." She said, and they all turned to leave. Lily looked over he shoulder at him, and winked, confusing him. He couldn't ask her why, because she walked out, and Elena walked in.

"Why are you here again?" He asked with mock-rudeness.

"I sleep here." She said plainly. He shrugged, and looked at the mouth of the cave. It was getting dark out, and his assumption of it becoming night was confirmed when Elena laid down on the opposite side of the cave.

He realized that even after his long sleep, he was tired again. He was also hungry, but that could wait. He laid down, and tried to get comfortable, shifting every few seconds.

"If you don't stop shifting around, I'm going to tear your throat out." Elena said, making him stop. He fell asleep soon, and slept fairly well. That is, until he was awoken by something poking his back.

He stirred, and turned around to see Lily there.

"Wh-" but he was cut off by her making a shh noise, and continued in a whisper, "What are you doing here?"

She dropped something that she had been carrying in her mouth to the ground, and it made a clinking sound. He reached his hand out, and picked it up.

It was a knife! And a large one too. It had a 6 Inch blade, that folded into the handle. The handle was a little rusty, but the blade was shiny. He folded it, and put it in his pocket.

"Thank you, but… why?" He whispered, and she said,

"Because I trust you. Don't let me down." And then walked quietly out of the cave. He smiled, and laid his head down again, this time more confident now that he had a weapon. He was about to fall asleep, when he heard more footsteps. He opened his eyes, and looked to the entrance. He was about to whisper out to Lily, but in the dim moonlight, he saw a wolf that was not Lily. This wolf had a much more threatening posture.

The wolf sniffed around for a moment, then snorted and left the cave. Blake was instantly on his feet, and walking to the edge of the cave. He looked back at Elena, and considered waking her, but instantly pushed the thought away.

He followed the wolf quietly, and watched. The wolf was obviously searching for something in specific, as he searched each cave it passed. Finally, he came to a cave that lead up a slope, and looked important.

He saw the wolf as it entered the cave, and Blake followed. The moment he entered, he saw 4 wolves, and he recognized all of them as Winston, Eve, Kate, and Lily.

He instantly knew what the goal of this wolf was…

Assassination.

He drew his knife, and pulled the blade out slowly, trying to suppress the click of the blade. It failed, and a click was heard. The wolf paused, and Blake thought it would turn around, because if it did, he wouldn't be able to stop it, because he was still 15 Feet away.

But to his relief, the wolf continued walking. Blake then realized that the wolf was walking towards Lily's sleeping form. Blake knew that if he acted now, he might miss his chance, so he waited for the perfect moment.

The wolf reached Lily, and stopped. He put his claw to her throat, and before Blake could move, Lily's eyes fluttered open, and she gasped, awaking the other 3 wolves slowly.

Blake was sprinting across the room now, and the wolf turned to see him. The wolf's eyes went wide, and he frantically went to finish Lily. He leant down to tear out her throat, but Blake let loose a yell, surprising the wolf, and waking all the others. He tackled the wolf, but didn't see if the wolf succeeded in killing Lily.

She must have still been alive, because he heard her begin to cry. He didn't pay attention, as the Wolf recovered from his attack, and faced him. The wolf snarled at him, and lunged at him. He quickly brought his knife up, and slashed at the wolf's nose.

The wolf missed his lunge, and fell beside him. The wolf was on its feet again, and it ran for the cave mouth.

By this point, all the other wolves in the cave were awake, but still confused. But now, they saw the strange wolf in their cave, and Blake. Eve instantly thought the worst, and went to attack Blake, but she saw how he attacked the other wolf, and she paused. They all did.

Blake saw the wolf try to run, and went after it, yelling, "Oh no you don't!"

He followed it out of the cave, and the moment they reached the cave mouth, Blake tackled the wolf. He jabbed the knife into the wolf's side, and heard the wolf howl and whimper in pain. He withdrew the knife, and put it to the wolf's throat, and stopped. Instead of killing it, he hit it with the but of his knife, knocking the wolf out.

He stood next to it, and waited. A moment later, Eve flew out of the cave, and tackled Blake instantly. They rolled down the hill, and Blake threw her off. The moment he stopped rolling, he was on his feet, knife at the ready.

She was ready too, crouched low and snarling.

"Hold up there, little demon dog," he said, "I am not the enemy. The wolf I just knocked out is."

She stopped snarling, but did not move, and said,

"How did you get the weapon? You were searched!"

He was about to say Lily gave it to him, but didn't want to get her in trouble, so he said, "Does it matter?"

Before she could respond, Winston came out of the cave.

"Eve! Leave the boy alone, and come comfort our daughter, please!"

She sighed, and reluctantly went up the hill, with Blake following. He passed the unconscious wolf, and his mind went to try to figure it out. He knelt beside it, and thought.

Why was this wolf here? Who was this wolf? Why did it go after Lily? She's only a child, why not Winston? Or Eve?

All these questions swarmed around his head, before a voice interrupted him,

"Would you please join us?"

He turned around to see Winston, and so he followed him. Once inside the cave, he saw Kate sitting next to her sister, who was being consoled by her mother, Eve. From here, Blake could see the blood on her fur.

Lily looked up at him, her eyes teary, and much to her mother's dislike, she broke off, and ran over to Chris. He was surprised when she leaped up, and tackled him to the ground, and wept into chest. He was confused for a moment, but soon he, fairly awkwardly, put his arms around her, and stroked her back whispering things like, "It's ok, your ok" or "Your safe now, it's over." After a few minutes, she stopped crying, but still made no move to get off him, so he sat up slowly, forcing her to slide gently off him. She landed in his lap, and didn't move, so he didn't bother trying to move her.

He looked up, and saw all eyes on him. It felt un-nerving, and uncomfortable. Winston broke the silence by saying,

"Thank you again for saving her." He paused, and looked to Eve, who still looked shocked by what her daughter did. She snapped back, and looked at Winston. She nodded at him, and Winston continued, "You have our complete trust now."

"Alright, but what are we going to do? This wolf was after your children, this Austin might send more."

"I know, and it looks like we may not be able to protect them." Blake instantly had a new respect for the wolf, as he was able to admit the fact he might not be able to protect his own children.

"Well, what do you plan to do about it?" Blake asked, and Winston replied,

"I was hoping you had an answer."

It was silent for a few minutes, the only sound heard was that of Lily's occasional sniff. Blake looked down at her, and then to Kate. She was looking at him strangely, he couldn't tell if it was a good strange, or a bad one, but he also saw a fear in her eyes. Not a fear of him, but of what happened. Blake shook his head, still thinking of a way to help.

Then it came to him, his head snapped up, and his thoughts raced. Winston and Eve noticed this, and waited for him to announce the idea. When he remained lost in his thoughts, Winston made an inpatient sound, and asked, but his tone sounded more like a demand, "Would you like to share this plan you have?"

Blake hesitated,

"You won't like it."

"If it means saving our children, we will love it." Eve said.

"Alright, fine. My plan is to take them away from here. Over to the Ranger-Station, where I can get food, and weapons. Plus, it will be safe for them." He left out the fact that the map said it was still under construction, but the map was 12 years old, so chances were that it was finished by now.

"You were right, I don't like that idea." Eve said, but Winston said,

"It seems like our only choice. How far is this place?"

"About 18 miles, or a few hours walk." He said, and Winston nodded. Winston spoke again, his voice filled with sorrow,

"Well… Its decided. They will leave with you tomorrow."

Kate was up in an instant, protesting the idea. Meanwhile, Blake was looking at the wounds on Lily's neck. The wolf had just sunk his teeth in, far enough to draw blood, but not puncture the esophagus. He became mad. This wolf had actually tried to take a child's life!

He looked up from Lily's sleeping form on his lap, and looked to the cave entrance. Suddenly, he carefully picked up Lily and laid her next to Eve. He then walked out of the cave, as a cold rage came over him. He lifted the wolf's limp body, and began walking down the hill.

"Where are you going with that?" Winston called from behind him.

"I'll be back before morning." Was the only thing he said in response, and kept walking.


	3. Chapter 3

**Man, these chapters are just flyin out, huh? Well, sorry to say it, but it will slow down eventually. It's more just the fact that it's snowing real hard up here, and snow generally means canceled flights... and canceled flights for a UPS airline cargo worker means no work. But I will be headed back soon, as Well as school. But, Christmas break is coming soon, and while I may not get off work, I do get off school! And that will open my schedule up! Anyways, this is one of those chapters I told you would have music, so get'cha YouTube open!**

He did come back before morning, with small sings of blood on his cloths. There was an unspoken question about what he did to that wolf, but when Winston and Eve went to ask him about it, he simply shook his head, and said,

"Some things should never be spoken of."

They knew almost instantly what he had done, and Eve was sad because Blake beat her to it. And when Lily asked him what he was doing, he told her that he went out to find food for himself.

And it wasn't a lie. He did find some berries to eat, and lots of them.

"Why didn't you eat any of the Caribou we have?" She asked after that, and he thought about a way to explain it to her. He realized that all of them were waiting for an answer.

"Well, my stomach isn't like yours. I have to have my meat cooked, or it will make me sick." He said to Lily, and she tilted her head sideways and asked,

"How sick?"

"Very sick." He said, and she seemed content with the answer, and went back to eating her meal. A second later, Winston came up and asked,

"Does it really make you sick? Or are you trying to be nice and not all our food? Because we can get more.#

"No, it is likely that it would make me sick. In fact, it is possible for it to even kill me without proper medical treatment."

Winston looked shocked, but believed him, as he saw no reason for Blake to have lied about it.

An hour later, the sun was beginning to rise, and after goodbyes, they set out. Blake had set the map to dry, and he held it now, trying to figure out which direction was which. He used the sun, and figured that if it rose in the east, and he needed to head north…

Well that wasn't very helpful, he thought. He looked around once more, and noticed a familiar cliff…

"Wait, did ALL of your pack see me up there or something?" he asked, and Kate Replied,

"Yes, all of us that didn't go with Lily when she came back asking for help, watched you fight that bear."

"Wait, what do you mean, Lily came back for help?" he asked, and Lily replied,

"You wouldn't wake up when I came through, and I knew you had saved me, so I came to get help."

Lily's flashback

"Where is he?" Winston asked Lily, as they came to the break in the trees.

"This w-" but was cut off by a blurring form fly past them with a yelp. They stood there, stunned for a moment, and Lily started, "I think that was h-" but was cut off as a bear flew past them with a menacing roar.

They sat there stunned again, until Winston said,

"What just happened..."

End Flashback

"It was quite funny." She said, after explaining her point of view.

"Well I'm glad you found my struggle amusing" he said sarcastically, and looked back down at the map. The cliff was to the south, and he realized he was in the same valley he had originally thought of sleeping in.

"Well, let's get going." He said, and began walking north, folding the map in his pocket.

"Where are we going?" Kate asked about 5 minutes into walking.

"To a ranger Station. They might have weapons, supplies, food, and Medicine." He said, still scanning the trees.

"What is medicine?" She asked.

"Uh, well it can do lots of things, like heal an illness, or make wounds heal faster, things like that."

She didn't respond, but went back to her thoughts.

4 hours later, they neared the place on the map where the Station should be located.

"Alright, spread out and search, but stay within earshot, and yell if you need help." He told them, but a gunshot rang out. He ducked behind a rock, and grabbed the two wolves, bringing them towards him.

"Stay down!" he whispered.

He heard a voice call out, "You all had better leave, or next time I won't miss!"

"Hey! We're looking for the Ranger Station that should be here! We need help!"

"There ain't no Ranger Station here, you'd best keep moving!"

"according to my map, the next Nearest Ranger Station is more than 100 Miles away!"

There was no response for a moment, so Blake called, "I'm going to come out now! I'm alone and unarmed!" he then whispered to the wolves, "Wait for me to call you, if I get shot, you need to run."

And before they could protest, he walked out from behind the rock.

"See? Unarmed…" he said, with his hands in the air. He scanned for the source, but a moment later, he felt a barrel at the back of his head.

"Don't move." Said a feminine voice, and he felt himself being patted down.

"There is a knife in my boot" he said, when she didn't check it.

"Why would you tell me that?" She asked.

"Because I really do not mean you harm. We need help."

"We? Who is 'we'?" She asked, and he said, "Just don't shoot them, alright? I'm going to turn around now…" he said, and slowly turned.

He almost gasped at the sight. The woman was beautiful. Dark brown hair, high cheekbones, full red lips, and deep brown eyes. She held a 12 gauge shotgun in her hand, and she clearly knew how to use it.

"Ok, now call out your friends, tell them to come slowly."

"Ok, Kate, Lily, come out, SLOWLY." He called, with emphasis on the 'slow' part. He heard footsteps, and aa moment later, the two wolves came out from the trees.

"Hi" Said Lily, and the woman's mouth dropped.

"D-did you j-just talk?"

"Yes, we both can." Kate Replied. The woman lowered her gun from Blake, and dropped it to the snow.

"Woah…" she said, with pure wonder and amazement in her voice. Blake smiled, and said,

"These are my friends, and we need help."

She turned to him, and thought a moment, before replying, "Ok, I'll help you. Right this way." She said, forgetting about the shotgun in the snow. Blake reached down, and picked it up. He looked at the woman, and she was uneasy. He handed her the gun, and she looked surprised. She took it, and handed him his knife.

"Lead the way." He said

She walked forward, and they all followed. Blake soon saw what looked like a cabin in the clearing ahead. It had one large window, and a simple door. It had a chimney, and a front porch. It was also fairly large, even if only one story.

"I thought this was supposed to be a ranger Station?" Blake asked, and the woman turned around and said, "It was, but they never finished it. So I came in, bought the land, and finished it myself."

"Why did they stop building?" he asked, and she replied simply, "Something about a wolf Problem."

They reached the door, and she opened it. The two wolves went inside first, but Blake stayed back a moment. He put his hand out, and said,

"My name is Blake."

She took his hand, and shook it while saying,

"Hannah."

She then walked inside, and Blake shut the door behind him.

It was roomy and warm inside, with a large main room to consist of most of the home. The large window was to the front, and there laid a couch with a T.V. on the opposite wall. There was a kitchen on the opposite wall of the door, with counters and an island in the middle with stools. To the right of the front door, there laid a few more doors, presumably to a bedroom, a bathroom, and maybe a closet? He didn't know what the 3rd door was meant for, but he pushed the thought aside.

"Are you hungry?" Hannah asked, and Blake nodded enthusiastically, and with a smile, said,

"Yes, very much so."

She smiled back, and set to work making him some food.

2 hours later, they had eaten. The situation, and what the wolves had done for Blake had been explained as well, but now she was asking questions.

"What am I supposed to do about it?"

"Well… we were really hoping we could stay here, where it's safe for them."

"Why not let me take you to the Ranger Station?"

"How do you think they would react to all this?"

"Well, your plan was to go to them before, why not now?" She asked.

"Before we didn't have a choice. It was the rangers, or nothing."

She nodded understanding.

"How long will you be here?"

"Wait, so you'll help us?" he asked, and she nodded, so he said, "I will be leaving here in a few days, but I need you to look after these two for a while."

She sighed, and looked to the two wolves with a serious face. Lily had a very happy look on her face, as did Kate, but Lily looked cuter. Hannah couldn't help but smiled and pat her on the head a few times.

"That's fine by me. So what do you need for this… wolf war?"

"Well, to start off, I need a gun, and some cooking supplies. All they have to eat up there is fresh Caribou and Berries."

She nodded, and turned to her T.V. and turned it on. She put in some random cartoon, and motion for the two wolves to watch it.

"Where are you going?" Kate asked, and Hannah replied,

"To get Blake here a weapon."

"Oohh, I wanna see what they do!" she said happily, but Lily seemed content with the cartoons. Hannah looked to Blake, who shrugged.

"Alright, but don't touch ANYTHING, and do exactly as I say when I say it." She said, and Kate nodded. Hannah walked over to the third, unknown door, and opened it. It was a stairwell that led downstairs into a basement. Blake followed Hannah, and Kate followed Blake.

Hannah turned on a light, and took Blake's breath away.

"Holy shit… where did you get all this!?" he asked, as a small armory stood in front of him.

"Well, my dad transports Shipments of guns for the Military, and every once and a while, one gun disappears, or maybe a grenade, or a few magazines." She said

"Oh, ok… WHY do you have this?"

"Well, my dad is over-protective in his own way, and I've had lots of close calls."

"What kind of close call requires THIS?" He said, pointing at the 8 assault rifles on the table

"Like I said, my father is very overprotective in his own way." She said, in a tone that clearly stated that the conversation was over.

He picked up one of the M16's on the table, checked it out. It was a recently build gun, no rust, not even a scratch on it.

He felt Hannah tap his shoulder. He turned around, and she handed him a Pistol. It was an M9A1, and she handed him the hip holster as well. He looked across the room, and saw a crate of magazines, but didn't grab one yet.

Hannah walked over to it, sand pulled one out. She threw it to him, and said,

"Let's see how well you shoot. Follow me."

Blake started to follow her, and he realized something, Kate had been quiet the whole time. He looked around the room for her now, and saw her sitting at the stairs, and looked nervous.

"Something wrong Kate?" he asked.

"I don't like these… they look dangerous."

"Well, they are dangerous, but I'm not going to hurt you." He said, going down to one knee. She looked at him, and asked,

"Do you plan to save my family? My pack? Everyone I've ever cared about is in that valley! And I'm out here-" but he cut her off,

"Yes, I swear to you that I will do my best to save your pack. Your all good people… wolves I guess, but regardless, I won't stand by as another wolf wipes out another pack of innocent wolves. Talking wolves none the less!"

Her spirits lifted, and she thanked him before running up the stairs. He followed her, but slower, and met Hannah at the top.

"Ready?" She asked, and he nodded.

They walked out onto her porch, and she pointed to a target on a tree, about 50 feet away.

"shoot that a few times."

He complied, and after loading the magazine into the gun, and chambering a round, he aimed. He fired 3 times in quick succession, each only missing the center by about an inch.

Blake heard a yipe from inside the house, and remembered Lily hadn't a clue what was happening. While Hannah admired his shots, Blake ran back inside, and saw Lily shaking in the corner, whining.

"Sorry Lily! That was just me, I forgot to warn you."

She looked a little more relaxed, but was still shaking. Blake sighed, feeling bad about having scared her, and walked over to her. He sat down on the floor next to her, and said,

"I'm sorry about that, it was my fault. I should have remembered you didn't know about what we were doing."

She laid down, and put her head in his lap. He stroked her head a few times, and noticed the shaking slowly disappearing, so he said soothingly, "Your safe, you won't be hurt as long as I'm here."

Hannah walked in, and was confused. He looked at her, sadness in his eyes, and she knew immediately what had happened.

"Oh, I didn't even think about her." She said, and immediately felt bad too. Her eyes lit up a moment later, and she said, "Hey, Lily, want to listen to some Music?"

Blake realized that the music would help calm her nerves, and said, "Yeah, Why don't we do that? Huh, Lily?"

She looked up at him, curiously, and asked, "What's music?"

"You've never heard music? Oh, you've got to do it now!" he said excited. They both jumped up, and Blake asked Hannah,

"Where is the speaker, and what music to we have to choose from?"

"Well, you can listen to what ever is on this IPod, and the speaker is right there, but It's already connected." She said, pulling a small iPod out of a drawer.

"Perfect." He grabbed the IPod and scrolled through the songs. Soon, he found one, and played it. He laughed when Lily was surprised by the sound. But he felt happy when she began to enjoy it. Even Kate started hopping around to the beat.

A moment later, Lily was with her, and the two wolves danced around the room on all fours, hopping and jumping and skipping.

Blake watched them with a smile, and Hannah tapped his shoulder. He turned around, and saw her holding 2 bottles of beer. She offered one to him, and he took it.

They sat there, practically partying, for a few hours, playing song after song.

Blake knew it didn't truly count as a party, but it had been so long since he had been to one, that this was grand.

Eventually, he scrolled to a song that caught his eye. He flinched slightly, and scrolled past. However, it didn't go unnoticed, as everyone was looking at him, waiting for a new song.

"What? What was it?" Hannah asked, but Blake just shook his head.

"Nothing, just a song." She quickly snatched the Ipod away, and looked at the previous song he looked at. She didn't think anything of it, but then a question popped into her mind,

"Can you sing?" She asked, and by his reaction, she knew instantly what the answer was.

"No, I don't." He said quickly. He saw her grin, and groaned, saying, "Ugh, yes I can sing, but I'm not going to!"

"Awww, Pleeease!" Lily said, and soon Kate was telling him to as well,

"Come on! You two are just sitting there doing nothing!"

Hannah agreed, and stood, dragging Blake with her. He protested lightly, but knew it was futile.

"Fine! Ok! I will sing ONE song." He said, and was met with a "Horary!" from them all.

He tapped the play button.

I very strongly recommend that you play this song in the background. I will have Blake saying the words, and a few interactions between the characters during it, so pay attention! The song is called Satellite, and it's by Rise Against.

Lily and Kate stopped, and sat down next to Hannah, and they watched him, but still moved their heads slightly with the beat.

"You can't feel the heat, until you hold your hand over the flame."

"You have to cross the line, just to remember where it lays"

"You won't know your worth now son, until you take a hit"

He started tapping his feet, and sensing the song would pick up a bit, Lily and Kate stood.

"And you won't find the beat, until you loose yourself in it!"

"That's why we won't back down,"

"we won't run and hide! Yeah, cause these are the things that we can't deny"

"I'm passing over you like a satellite,"

"So catch me if I faaaall!"

"That's why we stick to your game plans and party nights,"

"but at night we're conspiring by candle light"

"We are the orphans of the American dream,"

"So shine your light on meeee!"

"You can't fill your cup, until you empty all it has"

"You can't understand what lays ahead, if you don't understand the past"

"You'll never learn to find out, 'til your standing at the cliff"

"You can't truly love, until you've given all for it"

He said that, looking subtly at Hannah, before looking at them all as a group again,

"That's why we won't back down, we won't run and hide!"

"Yeah, cause these are the things that we can't deny!"

"I'm passing over you like a satellite, so catch me if I faaall!"

"That's why we stick to your game plans and party nights,"

"but at night we're conspiring by candle light"

"We are the orphans of the American dream,"

"So shine your light on meeee!"

"she told me that she never, could face the world again,"

"So I offered up a prayer…"

"We'll sneak out, while sleep, and sail off in the night,"

"We'll come clean, and start over the rest of our lives,"

"when we're gone, we'll stay gone, out of sight, out of mind,"

"Its not to late, we have the rest of our lives!"

"We'll sneak out, while they sleep, and sail off in the night,"

"We'll come clean, and start over, the rest of our lives,"

"When we're gone, we'll stay gone"

(I couldn't hear the next part, sorry)

"Its not to late, we have the rest of our lives!"

"The rest of our lives!"

"Because we won't back down, we won't run and hide!"

"Yeah, cause these are the things that we can't deny!"

"I'm passing over you like a satellite, so catch me if I faaall!"

"That's why we stick to your game plans and party nights,"

"but at night we're conspiring by candle light"

"We are the orphans of the American dream,"

"So shine your light on meeee!"

"No, we won't back down, we won't run and hide!"

"Yeah, cause these are the things that we can't deny!"

"I'm passing over you like a satellite, cause these are the things we cannot deny now!"

"This is the life that you cannot deny us, Now!"

As the song ended, he watched Lily and Kate stop bouncing around, and started laughing.

"That was pretty damn good." Hannah said, and he shrugged. He played another song, and sat down to watch Kate and Lily dance around the room.

Blake was happy now. It was warm, he had food, he had music, and he had friends. This was the best moment Blake could remember in his life.

If only it had lasted longer.

He heard, just over the sound of music, a howl. It was close. He paused the music, much to Lily and Kate's dislike, and listened.

"Aww, why did you turn it off?" Lily asked, but Blake just shushed her, and stood. He upholstered his pistol, which hadn't left his side, and took off the safety. Hannah, sensing he knew something, reached for her shotgun.

Blake walked to the window, and opened the curtains just a crack. He looked out, and saw nothing. Soon, Hannah joined him, and she whispered,

"What is it? Did you hear something?"

"Yes, it sounded like a howl."

"Well.. wolves howl… it's what they do."

"I know that, but it sounded close."

"Well, here, I've got some lights set up outside, I'll turn them on."

She flicked a switch, and the entire front yard lit up, along with the eyes of 7 wolves. Their eyes glowed a green color, but not literally, it was just the light reflecting off their eyes. Either way, it was disturbing.

Blake slowly closed the curtain again, and said, "Get them to the basement, and bring up as much ammo as you can."

"Why? What did you see?" he didn't tell her, but instead said,

"We have company, just go."

She took them downstairs, and brought back up a small crate. Inside, there were a few magazines, and a box of shotgun shells. He grabbed the gun, and loaded it, while asking,

"How much weight will that window take?"

"Why?" was all she said, before something came crashing through the window.

"That's why!" he yelled, as he fired multiple times into the snarling wolf that crashed through the window.

"Will the door to the basement hold?" he asked, and she looked uncertain, saying,

"It's a sturdy door, but just about as sturdy as I thought that window was…"

He nodded, before moving forward. He poked the dead wolf, just to be sure, and turned to look out the window. He didn't see the wolves anymore, but he knew they were out there.

"Ok, you stay here and guard them, I'm going hunting." He said, and jumped out the window before she could protest.

So, she stood there, shotgun loaded and ready, waiting for a wolf to come through that window.

After a moment, she saw the flash of a gunshot on the trees, and heard the crack of it. It was followed by 4 more in quick succession. It was another minute before more gunshots, this time only 2. She didn't hear more for quite some time.

Over by Blake…

He laid there, with a wolf on top of him, his gun sideways to hold it back. The wolf snapped at his face, but he managed to keep it away. Then, out of the corner of his eyes, he saw another wolf approaching.

He was also beginning to lose the struggle against the wolf on top of him. There wasn't anything he could do, but push, and watch as the other wolf cautiously walked closer.

Wait! Why was it being cautious? If it were with these other wolves, it wouldn't be…

Then it hit him, maybe this wolf wasn't with them.

His attention was drawn back to his more present problem, as the wolf was now able to nip his nose. A moment later, another wolf dove at the one on top of him, and the two rolled to the ground.

Unfortunately, the wolf he knew was bad, landed on top, and started biting the other. Blake quickly drew his pistol, and shot the wolf in the head once. The wolf pushed the other off, and looked at Blake before saying,

"Thank you" in a masculine voice.

"No, thank you, you saved me!" Blake said, but quickly aimed and fired once. The other wolf thought he was aiming at him, so he ducked, trying to avoid being shot. His head came back up, and saw he was not in fact aiming at him, but a wolf behind him.

"Now you can thank me." Blake said in a joking tone, then added in a serious tone, "What's your name? And why are you helping me?"

"Do you have someplace safe we can speak? It's not a good idea to be out here…"

"Oh, yes, follow m-" but was cut off when another wolf leapt out, and bit into the wolf's leg. The wolf yipped, and whined, but Blake shot the wolf. He walked over to the injured wolf, and asked,

"Can you still walk?"

"No." was all the wolf said, before Blake reached down, and picked him up. He grunted, and said,

"Wow, your heavy." Before slowly making his way back to the cabin.

When he made it there, he didn't go through the window, because he knew Hannah would be watching it, and didn't want to risk getting shot if he surprised her. So, instead he knocked on the door. There was a pause, but it opened, and he saw Hannah. Her eyes went wide with surprise when she saw what he carried.

"Why?" She asked.

"No, this one isn't against us, he helped me. But he got injured, help me bring him downstairs."

"Wait, did you kill all the wolves?"

But rather than Blake answering, it was the new one, he said,

"Yes, I watched them approach. All 7 of them are dead."

She nodded, and opened the door. Blake walked downstairs, and heard Lily gasp.

"Blake! Are you ok?"

"Yes, I'm fine. MOST of it isn't my blood." He said, before putting the injured wolf on the table.

It took 20 minutes for the two humans to hold the wolf down long enough to apply a bandage smeared with antibiotics.

"What is that stuff?" the wolf asked when he saw them smearing it onto the bandage.

"Antibiotics. It'll keep the wound from getting infected, but it might sting."

But it was over now, and the wolf was sleeping soundly on the table. Blake had learned that his name was Jack.

Hannah and Blake sat against a wall, each one with a sleeping wolf in their lap. Kate was in Hannah's, ends Lily in Blake's. They sat there, each stroking the wolf in their laps, as the wolves slept.

"Now what do we do?" Hannah asked.

"Well, you will probably have to drive to a relative's house or something, it's not safe here."

"Excuse me? You think that even after all this, I don't want in? That I don't want to help too?"

He looked at her with a smile, and said,

"That's what I was hoping you'd say."

She smiled, and repeated her question,

"So what do we do now?"

He thought a moment.

"Do you have a truck?"

"No, I walk 270 miles to the grocery store." She said sarcastically. He ignored the comment, and said,

"Ok, well, we could pack as much stuff into your truck as we can, then drive back to the Wolf's den."

She nodded, and said, "Its not much of a plan, but it'll work."

He nodded, and said, "Well, I've got first watch, you get some sleep."

He didn't notice her when she leaned over, and kissed him on the cheek. He blushed, and she laughed a little, before saying,

"Wake me up in a few hours."

But he knew he wouldn't wake her up, he would watch the entire night. Not like he would have slept anyways, there were so many things flying through his mind. He was very close to going into complete soldier mode, but there was that occasional thought about how she kissed him, that kept him from doing so.

He glanced over at her every time this happened. She was so beautiful, he thought, as we smile came to his face.

He didn't notice it, but a smile was on her face too.


	4. Chapter 4

**I understand that it is winter now, and that it's hard to imagine this story as in summer because of the snow, but in this story, the time of year is summer. I understand, even I sometimes write this thinking of a snow covered landscape, but it is supposed to be summer. Or maybe spring. It doesn't matter, but this is just a little reminder for those of you who live up a bit further north like I do.**

 **And if you are one of those people that live in snowy places like me, and you work outside, I know your pain. If you don't, then please realize that it is very cold, and working outside like I do, really saps your energy.**

 **A quick heads up… for some of you, this chapter might get a little weird… possibly even uncomfortable… just something that some of you may or may not know, is that writing a story like this, is trial and error. Meaning, we don't know what is a good idea, and what isn't, until we put it into a story. That brings up another point, this is why your feedback is needed! Not just when you don't like something, but also when you DO like something.**

 **If you are shy, and don't want to leave your opinion in a public review, PM me! I will not judge you, I will not chastise you. Instead, I will use your message to improve my stories.**

 **I cannot stress this enough, but Please Review, or send PM's!**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

That morning, they packed their guns, ammo, food, and other supplies into the 2008, Ford F-150 that Hannah owned, along with Jack, who was up and walking now. However, only walking, and it still hurt, so he got the back seat, while the girls(Lily and Kate) got the back of the truck.

Now, Blake did one last check off on their list of items.

"Non-Perishable foods… Medical…. Cooking…weaponry… Uh… Hannah?" he called, and she came over.

"Yes?" She asked.

"Why do we have a speaker and what looks like an IED in here?"

"Well, that IED is actually a portable battery system that limits the voltage amount that way it doesn't blow up what ev-"

"Ok, but why do we have it?"

"I don't know… you never know when Music could come in handy."

He rolled his eyes, but left it there.

"Ok, load up girls." He called, and Kate jumped up, but Lily missed, and hit her face on the side. She whimpered, and Blake felt bad.

Then he realized she was faking injury.

"Are you trying to get a ride in the front?" he asked, and she knew he saw through her plan.

"Yes"

He laughed, and lifted her into the back.

"Well, sorry but there's no room, and Jack is hurt and needs to lay down." He said, but seeing her expression, he added, "Plus, from back here, you can see so much more than upfront!"

She looked a little happier, and so Blake Closed the Tailgate. He turned around to look for Hannah, but didn't see her.

"Hannah? Where you at?" he called, and she came around the back of her house, obviously struggling to carry something. Blake rushed over, and started to help her pull the small trailer.

"Why do we need this? And what else are you hiding back there?" he said, looking at the old ATV on the trailer. It wasn't very heavy, and the trailer was small, so Blake and Hannah had little trouble bringing it over to the trailer Hitch on the truck. When they set it on, and Hannah finished attaching it, she let loose a sigh, and said,

"Well, there isn't anything else back there, and don't get your hopes up, I still have to fix this thing."

"No, I asked Why do we need this? We have a truck."

"Well, I assume that these wolves don't live in a city full of streets, so we need something a bit better for Off-road. But like I said, I have to fix it still." She said.

She wiped her hands on her pants, and said, "I'll be right back, go ahead and get in the truck."

He nodded, still confused as to How she got all this crap. Guns? Ammo? A truck? And now an ATV?

Well, maybe that's just what money gets you. I've not had any money, so maybe it's just strange because of that… he thought, but shook his head, and got into the passenger side of the truck. He looked over his shoulder, and saw Jack curled up in the back seat.

"How you doing back there?" He asked.

"Its comfortable." Jack replied.

Blake looked at the drivers side, as the door opened, and Hannah got in.

"Are we ready?" She asked, and got a nod from Blake. She turned on the truck, and paused. Blake noticed she was looking in her mirror at her house.

Blake put a hand on her shoulder, and said nothing. She sniffed once, before throwing the truck into gear and setting off down the road.

No one spoke for 10 minutes. Finally, Blake spoke, trying to change the subject.

"So, Jack. How did you come to be wandering around?" Blake asked. He heard a loud sigh, and realized this would be a good story.

"Well… I was kicked out of my Pack."

"Why?" Hannah asked.

"And which pack?" Blake asked.

"the Eastern Pack," Blake was shocked, but Jack quickly added, " and because I disagreed with what they were doing."

It made sense now. Not all the wolves agreed with what was happening, so they got kicked out. When Blake voiced his thought, Jack shook his head saying,

"No, I got lucky. Most of them were killed."

"What?" Blake said in disbelief, and Jack nodded but said nothing.

"Wait, you say most. Are there others that escaped?" Hannah asked.

"Yes." Answered Jack, not seeing the point.

"Can we find them?" She asked, and he realized what she meant.

"Yes, but I would need to come with you to find them."

"Let's just wait until we reach out destination." Blake said, and pointed, "That way. Get ready for some off-roading, the path is not easy."

"Pft, my truck can handle this." She said.

"I thought you said we needed the ATV for off-roading?" Blake asked.

"This old truck can take plenty, but the ATV gets around much faster and easier." She said, voice full of pride. Blake shook his head, and dropped the subject.

They got stuck 3 times before they finally came within sight of the Valley. Well, it really wasn't a valley, Blake realized, as it just had a cliff to one side, and a low hill to the other.

Hannah slammed on the breaks, causing Blake to hit his head on the dashboard, and Jack to slide off the seat with a yipe, as wolves came out of the bushes and jumped all over the car, barking and snapping. A moment later, they stopped when they saw Kate and Lily in the back.

Blake opened his door, and stepped out, yelling, "Hey! Get off that! Shoo! All of you!"

They didn't move, but started growling at him. They stopped a moment later, as Winston came out, and said,

"Stop, it's ok! They're clear! Go on! Back to patrol!"

The wolves walked away, after saying sorry to Winston as they passed.

"What are you doing here, Blake? And with another human!" he said, as Hannah got out of the car.

"It's a long story." Blake said, and Winston nodded before saying,

"Well, Leave that thing out here, and meet me in the cave."

"Well, uh, actually, this needs to come with us, it's got our food and weapons." Blake said, and Winston looked cautiously at the truck, but said, "Fine, bring is as close as you can, then meet me."

Blake nodded, and the two got back in, and started driving again. They found that they couldn't actually get over to his cave, so they parked in front of a fairly familiar one…

"Blake!" called a voice from the cave as he stepped out. Blake sighed, and said,

"Hello Elena."

She walked out, and with a very angry look said, "Do you have any idea how worried I was?! To wake up in the morning to find out you snuck off in the night!"

"You? Worried? About me?" Blake said, confused, and she roared, "YES!"

"Why? I thought you hated me?"

She sighed, annoyed, and said, "Well, at least your safe. But your not leaving my sight again!"

Blake stood there a moment, trying to comprehend what happened. After a minute, he still couldn't, and just gave up.

He walked over to Hannah, who asked in a lowered tone, "Who is this?"

"Elena."

"Why was she like that?"

"I haven't figured it out myself." Blake said, before opening the Tailgate, allowing Lily and Kate to jump down, and opened the door for Jack. The two pups immediately ran for their cave, and inside. As for Jack, he immediately was met by Elena. The two stared at each other for a moment, and locked eyes. After a moment, Jack said,

"Who are you?"

Elena was caught off guard, but quickly recovered her rude and dominant personality,

"No, the question is, who are you? This isn't your territory!"

Jack sighed, and said, "Well, my name is Jack, and I know this isn't my territory, but I'm here anyways."

She growled, but said, "My name is Elena." But by now, Blake and Hannah weren't paying attention.

As Blake and Hannah went back into the truck, Blake grabbed his Rifle, which had a shoulder Strap, but Hannah didn't take her shotgun because it didn't have one, and she would have to hold it in a threatening way the whole time.

Instead, she grabbed a few protein bars, and threw one to Blake. She still had the pistol at her side, as did Blake, and thought it would be enough for now. Blake Closed his door, and shouldered the rifle making sure the safety was on.

As the four walked away, she instinctively locked the doors by double tapping the lock button on her key chain. She winced, as that resulted in a honk from the truck. Jack and Elena jumped in surprise, and Hannah looked at Blake, who's face simply said,

Just keep walking

As they neared the cave entrance, they heard sounds of happiness, and when they Entered, they saw Eve and Winston practically playing with their children. Blake and Hannah waited by the mouth of the cave, and watched with smiles on their faces.

Soon, Eve noticed, and Cleared her throat, Winston looked up, and said, "Alright you two, go play outside for a few minutes."

Blake moved to go outside, but Hannah grabbed his arm. She mouthed, "Not us" to him, and he laughed, realizing his mistake. The two wolves shot past them, and they turned back to Eve and Winston. Eve looked mad.

"I thought you were going to keep them safe, and Away from here?!" Eve yelled, but Blake wasn't intimidated, even if Hannah was.

"We were attacked, and had no choice but to come back." He said, and watched their eyes go wide with shock. Then Eve growled, looking at Jack.

"I recognize your scent! You're an eastern Pack Wolf!" She yelled, before diving at Jack, who got out of the way. He hobbled on his injured leg, saying, "Woah, no! Stop it! Blake! A little help!"

Blake jumped between the mad wolf and Jack, and Eve tried to jump over him, but he caught her.

"Would you at least wait until you hear his story?!" Blake said, causing her to calm a little, but not enough.

"I don't want to hear his story! He's and Eastern Pack Wolf!"

But Jack responded this time, saying, "I no longer claim allegiance with those monsters!"

Eve looked a little surprised, and calmed enough to hear him out, but still looked ready to tear his throat out at a moments' notice.

Jack sat down, and spoke slowly, "I used to be in that pack. I was good friends with the leader, but when his 'Accident' happened, I figured it wasn't an accident. I sniffed around, but found out too late what Austin was doing. He had already earned the trust of much of the Pack. And when he made a speech about his plans, those of us who didn't agree, stood up and left. We realized to late, that this was his plan, to single out those of us who wouldn't. He ordered us killed." He paused, and closed his eyes with a sigh, "My family was among them."

It was silent in the cave, as they stared at Jack. It was like this for some 5 minutes before Jack opened his eyes again.

"This is why I am here. That is why I want to help you."

Eve nodded, and sat down, slightly embarrassed of what she did earlier. It was quiet again, but not for long, as Winston said, "We'd be glad to have you on our side."

Jack nodded, and said, "I'm not the only one who escaped, I can find the others, but there won't be very many."

"That's fine, we'll need all the help we can get. How soon can you leave?"

"Well, I have to fix up my ATV first." Hannah said. They looked at her confused, so she explained, "It's a mechanical thing much like my truck out there, but smaller, and made for rough ground. Plus, it's fast."

"Not faster than a wolf." Jack said, and Hannah nodded, and said, "I know, but it's faster than I could ever go out there. But either way, Jack, you have to heal up, and I have to fix my ATV, so it might be a few days."

"What happened to Jack?" Winston asked, and before Jack could respond, Blake did,

"He saved my life during the attack. A wolf had me pinned, and he knocked him off."

"But I was clumsy, and almost died in the attempt. You saved me after that." Jack said shyly. Eve nodded, and said, "Well, we have to find a place for you all to live, and I assume you two will be joining in on the patrols?" she said the last part to Hannah and Blake.

"Let them rest up first, they just got back!" Winston said, but Blake said, "Yes, I will be joining your defenses, but Hannah has to focus on fixing her ATV."

Hannah turned to him, and said, "Well you can't go alone!"

Elena spoke up, saying, "I'll go with him."

Blake was up instantly, protesting the idea, "No! I'm good on my own!"

"No, you have to have some one to watch your back." Hannah said, not understanding why he didn't want her to come.

"No, I'm fine. I can watch my own back, it's what I've been doing the last few years of my life!"

Hannah looked confused, and she tilted her head slightly and asked, "What do you mean?"

He shook his head, and said, "You don't need a description of my life, just that I've been fine the last few years on my own!"

They ignored his comment, and Elena said to Hannah, "I was wondering why he ended up wandering through the woods." She turned to Blake, and asked, "How did you end up wandering through the woods?"

"Seriously? First you ignore me, then you talk like I'm not here?" he said, throwing his hands in the air with a frown on his face. They looked at him like he was crazy.

"Unbelievable." He said, and sat down with his head in his hands. It was a quiet a few minutes, and they all looked at him, until Blake said,

"Fine? You want to hear my life story?"

They all nodded enthusiastically, but seeing that he still had his head in his hands, Elena said, "Yes."

He sighed, and was quiet again. The wolves sat down, and Hannah leaned against a wall, and Elena whispered to Eve, "Finally"

He didn't speak for a few minutes, but sat there. They didn't rush him, as they feared he might change his mind. Just when Hannah was about to say something, when he cleared his throat. He brought his head up, and looked at them with teary, fear filled eyes. Suddenly, they were unsure of if they wanted to hear this.

"Well… just remember you asked for this."

Now they were really unsure about it.

 **Ok, so I'll be breaking these paragraphs up as best I can, but know that unless I say in the text that someone else is speaking, it is still Blake. This is just to avoid big blocky paragraphs of speech. Also note that sometimes the words are hard to see, and if your reading it kind of fast, you'll end up skipping words, so if your confused, go back and read a little more carefully.**

"I'll start where it began. I was a pilot in the Air force, my wingman got sick one day, so I had to fly solo. So there I am, flying across the desert in an F-35B when 4 other planes come out of nowhere." Now he was telling it exactly by memory. Not as a story, but as if he were living it again.

"I banked left, a little to hard, and almost lost altitude. I watched as the bullets from their cannons flew past me, and went sideways to make a smaller target. I called into my radio to command that I was under attack. The only advice the admiral gave me, was, 'Remember your training, and you'll be fine.' My training didn't involve me fighting 4 other planes. I went right to try and shake them off, and succeeded, as they were to close to turn with me. As they broke off, I came back around, and ended up coming straight at one. We both fired our cannons at each other, but I hit him first. He spun out of control, and I pushed down just in time for the plane to go over me."

"The debris from his wing hit my windshield, and I emerged from the smoke of his trail." He took a deep breath before continuing, "I flew straight, and saw another plane. I got behind him, and started firing. I didn't have the chance to take him out, as I noticed cannon fire flying past me. I went left, right, up and down, I spun, and rolled, but could not loose the guy!" He paused and shook his head a moment.

"Then, I went up. I got a decent altitude… and turned off my engine. I had to override the computer, but the engine failure alarm blared regardless. I pulled up. I went up only a few hundred feet, before stalling out, and falling backwards. The altitude alarm turned on, as my nose turned to face the ground, I looked up to see the other pilot in the jet. He did not look at me. I turned the engine back on, and heard it roar back to life. I pulled up, and saw yet another plane in front of me. I immediately armed one of my Heat Seeking missiles, and fired. The guy didn't stand a chance. His plane was engulfed in fire, as I pulled away from the wreckage." He took another pause, this time longer.

"Then, my computer warned of a missile lock. The alarm blared. I deployed one set of flares, but they must not have burned hot enough, for it only slightly confused the missile. It detonated to my right, just below my wing. My plane shook violently, and the hot air pushed my wing upwards, causing me to go off balance. Another lock. More flares. This time, it detonated to my left, and in front."

"My wing passed through the explosion, and came out on fire. While my wing burned, it had my attention. The alarm blared once more, and I deployed flares to late. The missile blew up just behind me, damaging my engine, causing it to smoke. Then, they fired the cannons again. I was almost defenseless, and could do little but try to avoid the shots."

"They hit my right wing. The plane shuddered violently as the explosion tore off half my wing. I spun out of control. I called into my radio that I was going down, but got only static. I was going down, and no one knew it." He let loose a shuddering sigh.

"But they didn't stop with me going down, they continued their fire. The shots flew past me. One hit the cockpit, 3 inches from my face. It went in and out of the glass, sending shards in different directions. They cut my face. When I finally had the rhythm of the spin down, I ejected. As I floated down in the parachute, I watched the 2 remaining planes fly into the distance, as the flying heap of metal and fire that used to be my plane, hit the ground."

They didn't think it was possible for his voice to become more grim, but it didn't need to, as it was now filled with pain, just pure pain, as if they knew exactly how bad it was, as he continued,

"I took the Canteen that was attached to my seat, and I wandered that desert. I ran at first, for fear that who ever shot me down would come looking for me. I ran out of water the next day. But I held onto my pistol, because I thought they would come for me, and I was hell-bent on taking a few down with me. I also was not going to let them take me alive…" he said, not wanting to finish the sentence. He shook his head now, finally snapping out of his memories. He did not look up, for fear of what he might see, and continued.

"I wandered for 3 days before sleep took me. I woke in a small village, and for some reason, they helped me. I haven't clue why. Anyways, a Marine search party found me a week later, and took me back home." He stopped, and thought for a minute before asking, "Did you know that there really isn't a good or bad case of PTSD? Its just PTSD. That's what the doctor's told me, but it felt… no, feels like I had it bad. Nightmares almost every night, and I was jumpy too. One time, I was driving down the road, and another car went to pass me. I thought it was a missile, and swerved off the road, almost killing some other family."

"Anyways, I couldn't afford rent on my apartment, so I had to share one. The guy was a drug addict and a gambler. Anyways, I came home one night, to find out he Overdosed on the couch, with a debt of more than $455,000. The drug dealer came after me, saying I had to pay it, or die. I knew I couldn't do it, and I couldn't go to the police, so… I ran. From California to here. Or, almost here. They found me a few days ago, and I had to break camp."

"And by break camp, I mean that I left with nothing but my cloths and shoes. I ran for a few days before they caught me. They beat the shit outa me, then left me a few miles south of here to be eaten by wolves."

Now his voice had a note of finality in it, "And so, for the second time in my life, I found myself running... with nothing… no hope of survival… and yet with one goal in mind. Survival."

Only Hannah knew what was happening through most of the story, the jets were beyond the wolves knowledge, but they could still tell it was terrifying.

It was silent for a few minutes before Blake finally looked up to meet their eyes. He saw looks of pity and sadness on their faces, and he realized just how sad his life was. Blake's eyes were red, and his nose stuffy. He looked like he was on the verge of crying.

Blake stood, and walked quickly out of the cave. He passed Kate and Lily, as they ran back inside.

"Hi Blake!" Lily called, but Blake did not respond, and kept walking. Lily turned to her parents, a hurt expression, but was surprised to see their faces.

"What did you do?" She asked accusingly. Elena was the only one to respond, and she whispered,

"We made a mistake."

Elena stood, and ran out of the cave. She came out, and looked around for Blake, but didn't see him. It was getting dark, and she worried for him.

"Blake!" she called, but got no response. She sniffed the ground, and found his trail. She started to follow it, but a voice stopped her,

"Elena, don't. Leave him be." Hannah said sadly, but Elena turned around and said, "But he's alone out there! Its getting dark!"

"Trust me, while I may not know much about Male emotions, I know plenty about Human emotion. If you go after him now, he's likely to become angry." She said, and seeing Elena was considering it, she added, "Just give him an hour to think about things, and if he's not back by then, go looking for him."

Elena sighed, but reluctantly agreed. She walked to her own cave, while Hannah walked back inside Winston's. Elena laid down, and counted the time down. Soon, she figured an hour had passed, and stood. She went looking for Hannah, who she found in her truck.

"Its been an hour, are you coming with?" Elena asked, but Hannah shook her head and said, "No, better to him alone, so we don't overwhelm him. Just a quick bit of advice for you, don't push him to fast, he will come back when he feels he's ready, so if you push him to soon, he might do something drastic."

"How do you know so much about this?" Elena asked, curious.

"I have a father that's just like him. Actually, no, just somewhat like him. I don't think there's another human on earth like Blake." She said, with a note of admiration in her voice.

Elena tried to sniff out his trail again, but couldn't, so she went to a more unreliable technique. There was a ¾ moon in the sky, and plenty of starlight, so she found his footprints, and figured they were recent, seeing the lack of wolf prints on them. She followed them up hill, around trees, and over rocks, before she finally saw him.

He was sitting at the cliff above the Pack's home, legs hanging over the edge, looking straight and slightly up at the stars and moon.

She came up quietly behind him, quiet enough not to disturb him, but loud enough not to startle him when she came up beside him. She sat down beside him, and looked at his face, but he paid her no attention. She sighed, and said,

"I know we made a mistake. We pushed you to bring up old memories and pains."

He sighed, and said nothing, but dropped his head. Elena couldn't help but feel her motherly instincts taking over. She came closer, and licked him on the cheek. He recoiled, and turned to her, shocked.

"Why did you do that?" He asked.

She couldn't lie, even if it went against all her morals, that she felt like a mother to Blake. After having taken care of him when he was first found, healing his wounds over those few days is what first started it. Then, when he disappeared, her motherly connection became evident to her. While she tried to deny it, it only furthered them.

And now, his life story. She felt so bad for him, and felt he needed a motherly figure. Whether he wanted one, or not. Her thoughts came back to the present, and she tried to figure out how to tell him this. Without freaking him out, preferably.

She realized he was waiting for her response.

"Well…. I guess I figured you needed it." She said, and did not help to clear up the question.

"Ok… What was it?" he asked, choosing his words a little more carefully. She couldn't find a way to say it nicely, so she said it in the only way she knew how, very direct and bluntly.

"Because you need a mother."

"Excuse me?" He said, more confused than ever. She rolled her eyes, and said, "Do you need a reason? Or can you just accept a little motherly love?"

She moved closer again, and he moved away, a bit freaked out.

"Uh, I need a reason. It's… weird." He said. She growled a little, and asked, "When was the last time you saw your mother?"

The question took him by surprise, as he realized he hadn't seen her since he was… about 16? Not like she was around for him at any point before then. He didn't answer, and Elena took this as an answer.

"When was the last time you had someone to cry too? To talk too? Without the fear of being judged?"

The questions hit him like punches, and he realized she was right. He did need someone…

She seemed to have read his thoughts, and moved closer again, saying, "You can do that with me. I won't judge you, and I won't tell anyone. But you need to get it out of your system. I'm happy to help you."

She watched, as his features slowly changed, first from Stubbornness and defiance, to acceptance and Thought, to sadness. Suddenly, he was on the verge of crying again, so she moved closer until she was sitting shoulder to shoulder with him.

He finally gave in, and started to cry. Elena said very little, but allowed him to hug her and cry on her. He cried for nearly an hour, before he finally stopped. He was tired, and didn't feel like walking back down, so he laid down on the grass, with Elena curled up next to him.

 **Again, if you didn't like that part, sorry, but there's only one way for me to find out! Also, I'm sorry if you don't like the "traumatized soldier" thing, but I'm pretty sure they're good… right? Well, those od you who read my stories, leave a review on what you think of them, and if you don't like them, I'll make sure to leave them out of my next story. If you do like them, Great! I'll keep doing them!**

 **One last thing, if you've noticed the rate at which these chapters are being published is significantly higher, it's because I'm trying to get these out before I grow bored of it. Some of you may not know what I mean by this, but those of who do, now you have an answer.**

 **Not that many have read any of this story...**


	5. Chapter 5

**Ok, I'm thinking I'll put some more music into this chapter, just a quick notice. Also, there are going to be some new friends, but I doubt they will play a large roll in the story. It's more just an event that helps you to figure out the characters, and possibly something fun to read.**

 **One last, quick By-The-Way, for some of you who may have read my other story, this will be different regarding love situations. Blake is starting to like Hannah, and she to him. Elena may or may not end up with Jack, it depends on how this story goes. Elena has motherly feelings towards Blake, and will act protective of him, and worry, and scold him through out the story. Lily and Kate are somewhat like nieces to Blake? I don't know, the way I'm describing it in the story, it may end up being more like his children, but I figured that might be a bit weird…**

 **I guess you can view their relationship as what ever you want, but he does care deeply for them, and NOT in a creepy way...**

Blake and Elena walked back the next morning, and found that Hannah was still sleeping in her truck. Elena wandered off to find Jack, while Blake waited for Hannah to wake up. When she finally woke, and saw him, she was up in an instant, saying,

"Where did you go? Are you ok now? I'm so sorry that we pushed you too far." She obviously had more to say, but Blake interrupted, putting his hands up in a pausing gesture,

"I'm fine, it's ok, I think that it might have done some good. But let's forget about that now, and get back to wo-" but was cut off, as he was tackled to the ground by a small light grey, almost white shape. It knocked the air out of him, but when he recovered enough, he looked up to see Lily.

"Wha?" was all he could say with his lack of breath, "Where di' you come from?"

She looked up at him, and he realized that he would be getting similar reactions with all the rest.

"Where did you go? Why did you leave us like that?" She cried, as he pushed her off his chest.

"So much for getting to work." He whispered, then said to Lily, "Don't worry about it, I'm fine, I'm here, and I won't do it again."

"Your darned right you won't!" Said another voice. He turned slowly to see Eve there, staring angrily at him. Seeing her, sparked a little anger inside him as well.

"Excuse me? I am not at fault here! All of you are, don't pin this on me!" he said, and Eve's expression softened a little, and she said, "I know, we made a mistake. And for that, I am truly sorry."

Blake was surprised, and didn't know how to respond. Thankfully, he didn't need to, as Winston came forward.

"I'm sorry as well, but the fact is, we have work to get done."

Ashley took that as her que, and said, "Give me an hour or so of uninterrupted work, and this old thing should be ready."

"What about Jack? Will he be ready?"

"Yes, I already am." Jack replied, having just turned the corner with Elena at his side. Winston nodded, and turned to Blake,

"Your shift starts tonight at sundown. Get some rest." Blake nodded, but stayed put.

"First, I'd like to help Hannah out with this, maybe get it done faster."

Winston nodded, and turned to leave, and Eve followed suit. Blake turned to Hannah, who was pulling out her modified battery and the speaker.

"Grab that tool box." She said, and nodded towards a small grey box. Blake picked it up, and brought it over to the clearing Hannah had set up. Then, he started unloading the ATV off the trailer, and pulling it into the place.

By then, Hannah had her speaker set up, and scrolled through the songs. Soon, she chose one, and set to work on the ATV.

"First on the To-Do list, find the leak. Somewhere along the line, gas is leaking out, but I can't find it. Next would be to align the steering, it's little to the right." She said, and they set to work. Blake noticed they had a small crowd forming to watch them. It consisted mostly of wolf pups, which surprised Blake a little, but he practically face palmed, as he realized Lily and Kate wouldn't be the only young wolves in the pack.

Pretty soon, a song caught Blake's attention, and while he said nothing, Hannah noticed it. She made a mental note for this song, and would ask him about it later, but at the moment they were busy.

They found the leak within 25 Minutes, and soon had it patched. Then, for the steering. Blake originally thought it required professional training and tools to do this, but Hannah proved him wrong. They finished it about 15 minutes later.

By this point, Blake was exhausted, but refused to show it. He actually started to worry about Hannah going out there, and even offered to go with. His offer was immediately discarded by Hannah, and she told him to get some rest.

So now, Blake searched for a place to sleep. Soon, he found himself on a hill, overlooking a small, green, grassy valley. This time, it was an actual valley, and there was even a herd of Caribou to one side. He looked out over it, and noticed something… he couldn't find what it was, he thought he saw movement in the grass below, but could see nothing.

Then he saw it again! His eyes snapped towards the location, and focused on a small goldish colored creature moving through the grass. Kate, he realized. There were as few other shapes moving around her, and his attention was drawn, and the thought of sleep pushed from his mind. He was about to see wolves hunt, and didn't want to pass the opportunity.

He watched them slowly move towards the herd, with Kate leading.

Strange, he thought, why is she leading? Isn't she kind of young? Maybe it's training…

His suspicion was confirmed, or at least, as confirmed as it gets without asking directly, when Kate tripped on something hidden by the tall grass. The herd was aware in an instant, and all the wolves froze to avoid spooking the herd.

Blake waited to see how Kate would recover from this, and was surprised to see her start to back up. Then, he realized what she was doing when she circled around to the other side.

A voice startled him from behind, "What are you watching?"

He turned to see Elena, and he shushed her, pointing to the hunt below. She walked over and sat down next to him, watching intently. Kate now approached from the other side, and let loose a bark as a Bird flew down at her. It was clearly a signal given to the other wolves to do something, as the rest reared up on hind legs and barked loudly.

Blake could see the surprise on her face even from here, as he realized something. She didn't mean to do that. Blake stood, and watched carefully, as the herd broke out into confusion, running every which direction. Soon, they all started going the same direction, and started a stampede. Blake sighed with relief when he saw that Kate wasn't in the path, but tensed again when he noticed that there were several wolves that were in the path, 3 to be exact.

"Shit!" Blake yelled, and studied the ground between himself and the other wolves. They were running parallel to the ridge he was on, so he tried to make some calculations as to where he could meet them. He was about to take off, when Elena bit into his shirt and held on,

"Oh no you don't! Don't even think about jumping down there in front of that!" she said between clenched teeth. Blake rounded on her, and said, "If I don't do something, those wolves might die! We need every able body to fight! I won't allow them to die like this!"

She opened her mouth to speak again, but he took the opportunity and bolted. Now his window was much smaller, and he ran even faster. He jumped to a rock, and nearly missed. He jumped down off the rock into the path of the stampede. It was still 75 feet away, however, but they were closing the distance fast. He ran at an angle downwards so he would reach the middle before they got to him.

50 feet.

He waved at the 3 wolves to get their attention, but only the one on the far side saw him. Blake motioned for him to get closer to the middle wolf, and the wolf did so.

30 feet.

Now for that last one. He angled himself so that he would meet the wolf, but he would have to run hard.

20 feet away.

He was close to the wolf, but was coming up a little to short. He dove for it. He tackled the wolf, knocking him into the other two, and they all tripped up. Blake quickly untangled himself from the mess, and drew his Sidearm, as he left the M16 at the ATV. He went to one knee, and fired several times, creating enough noise, that it diverted the Stampeding animals. He fired slower now, as to conserve the ammo. Within half a minute, all the Caribou had gone past.

Blake dropped his arms to his side, and sighed before standing. He turned around to see the 3 wolves untangle themselves, and stand up. Kate came up behind him, and started asking them if they were ok. One of them replied, "I am, thanks to him" and looked at Blake, who had his hands on his knees, and was breathing heavily.

It was really tense, and he had run harder than ever in his life. Kate came up to him, and nosed his hand. He looked up, and saw the embarrassment in her eyes. She opened her mouth to say something, but Blake spoke, "Don't tell me you made a mistake, and that it wont happen again, because it will." He said Bluntly, and she looked a little hurt, so he added in a nicer tone, "But that's apart of learning. You'll get the hang of it. Just try not to kill anyone."

He smiled at her, before patting her on the head a few times, and standing to leave. He turned, and saw Elena still up on the ledge. He could tell even from this distance, that she was pissed. He sighed, and started towards her, knowing that a barrage of words awaited him.

He climbed back up the hill, slowly, more out of exhaustion than out of fear. When he reached Elena, he noticed her eyes were a little red.

"Were you crying?" Blake asked, the tiredness evident in his voice. She looked away a moment, then turned back with a scowl,

"You keep doing things like that, and I'm going to come unglued!" she said. Blake sighed, and sat down where he was originally seated, and looked out across the landscape, before answering, "You know that I have to do this, right? It's what I do… it's what I'm good for, and if I'm not going to do what I'm good at, what's the point of doing anything at all?"

She considered his answer, then sighed once as well, then sat laid down and said, "Just try to be careful? Please?"

He nodded and said, "Of course." And laid down on his back. He noticed that she kept a little more distance than last night, which he figured would be a one time deal. He looked up at the sky, and saw a pretty blue, with light, fluffy clouds floating lazily across the sky. The sunlight was warm and cozy, the breeze cool and fresh, and it was quiet, aside from Elena's breathing.

He fell asleep quickly, and was met with a dream. And a bad one, too.

Que the Dream!

He found himself in darkness. He felt around for something… anything. Soon, he felt rock, and sent his hands up to find more rock as a roof. With his hands on the wall, he walked forward. Slowly, he began to see a little light, and moved faster.

Then, he tripped on something. He fell on his face, and groaned in pain before looking to what he tripped over. He gasped once, and froze at the sight. Tears filled his eyes.

There, on the ground, was a corpse.

A wolf corpse.

Lily's corpse.

She had cuts and bite wounds all over her body, and her throat had been torn out. There was a puddle of dried blood around her.

"No…" he whispered, before standing and running towards the light he saw. He came bursting out of the cave, and into the open. But he saw something even more terrible. Dead wolves, everywhere. He could see Winston and Eve among them. In the distance, about 200 feet down the path, he saw Hannah with a small group, as they fought more than 2 dozen other wolves.

Hannah tried desperately to fend off the wolves, with Kate and Elena. Blake wanted to run over and help, but he was rooted to the spot.

He watched, helpless, as a wolf came up behind them, and grabbed Kate. She screamed, and Hannah spun around to try and save her. She was immediately attacked from behind. She screamed once, then was silent. Then, he watched, as both Kate and Elena were torn apart.

He heard a voice from behind him, "You didn't stand a chance, you never did." He turned to see nothing, but the voice continued, "I'm going to kill your family and friends, and then you. And you won't be able to stop me."

"No! I will!" Blake shouted, but even he wasn't convinced. He heard the voice laugh, and say, "Your time will come…"

End dream

Blake flew up off the ground with an enormous yell. After a second, he put his head in his hands, and got lost in his thoughts.

It was a dream, he realized, just a way his mind tried to torture him. Nothing more, nothing less. But that still didn't make a certain part seem any less terrible. He asked himself the question,

"Can I really stop this? Do I believe I can protect those I love?"

He sighed again, and asked the question over and over in his mind, before growing angry with himself. He screamed with rage, and hit the grass next to him. He winced in pain, as he found that it was not grass… but stone?

His head snapped up, and he looked around. He was in a cave again, and there were 3 other figures in the cave with him, one to his left, front, and right. He recognized them as Elena, Hannah, and Lily.

"What the f-" he started, but stopped, and looked at Lily, before rephrasing his question, "How and why did I end up here again?"

Before any one responded, Elena had noticed his glance, and turned to Lily with a confused look, which only confused Blake more.

"Well…" Hannah started, "You were still asleep when I came back, so Elena and I got you back here to rest. Soon after that, your bad dream started. As for when Lily showed up, I don't know."

Blake turned his head to the entrance, and saw it was night out. He stood up, saying, "Oh, crap! I have to go help with the watch!"

But Elena stopped him, saying, "No, you don't. The three you saved earlier volunteered to go for you, and allow you to keep sleeping."

"Oh" was all he said before sitting back down. He looked at Lily, who looked terrified. He sighed when he realized that he probably scared her. Then, he realized he scared all 3 of them. He didn't know what to do now, and sat silently. Eventually, Lily spoke,

"What did you mean when you asked those questions?"

He still didn't know what to say, and paused. What did he mean by these questions? Was he admitting defeat? Or trying to find out how to solve the question?

Did he need an answer? Or did he already have it?

That was the one question that swirled through his mind, he asked himself several times, Do I have the answer?

He looked up at the 3 faces looking at him. That was enough for him to decide. He had these three, and many more depending on him. This got his mind moving enough for him to realize he needed to rephrase the question.

Would he let them down?

He had an answer for that one immediately, and it was a giant, Hell No!

The three watched as his eyes… no, his entire body filled with a new determination. He had a response for Lily now,

"Know what? Forget I asked them, because they don't mean didly squat." He said to her, rephrasing his statement for her younger age. She was confused for a second, but knew what he meant. Blake stood, and began to walk out of cave, before stopping.

"Hannah, why did you come back early? You had food for 3 days." He said, turning to face her. In the dim light, he saw her smile.

"Because I found some wolves."

His attention was caught. "What? How many?"

"5 of them. Two parents… and three pups."

"Where are they?"

"Why?" Hannah asked.

"I would like to talk to them."

"That may not be a real good idea." She said, then continued before he could ask why, "They aren't too... trusting of Humans. The only reason they are here is because they knew Jack."

Blake shrugged, and said, "Well, they might just have to trust us a little more. Here soon, we all may be fighting for our lives, and we won't win of we don't have trust."

Hannah considered it a moment, before agreeing with a nod.

"Would you mind showing me where they are?" He asked, and she nodded, and stood. Elena and Lily stood as well. Blake considered telling them to stay, but Elena shot his idea down immediately,

"We're coming with. It will only do good, as it will prove that we trust you, and help them to trust you." She said, and Blake realized she was right. Plus, it wouldn't hurt to have a little back-up.

They walked a little ways, to one of the caves on the far side from where they were at. He walked to the entrance, and motioned for Elena to go in first, saying, "Best not to intrude. See if they are awake, and tell them what's going on."

She nodded, and walked inside. They heard inaudible voices, they sounded confused at first, then sounded scared and angry. Then, Elena's voice cut through, and was filled with an unmistakable tone of authority.

The voices stopped, and Elena walked back out with a smile on her face.

"They're ready."

Hannah looked at Blake, who simply shrugged before following Elena back inside with Lily at his heels. Hannah laughed and followed.

When Blake walked in, he saw the two wolves had retreated to the back, with the 3 pups hiding behind them, shivering. Blake stopped at a respectable distance, and knelt down to one knee.

"Hello, there." He said kindly, "I'm sorry I couldn't greet you earlier, I was… recovering."

The male wolf hesitated before responding, glancing at the pistol he wore at his side. Blake noticed this, and reached down to his pistol. The wolf growled at him, so he slowed his hand, but did not stop. He pulled it slowly out of its holster, before pulling out the clip, tossing it to the side, then the pistol in the other direction.

"I'm unarmed now." He said, and the wolf relaxed a little, and asked, "Just know that we don't trust you, but… recovering from what?"

Elena knew Blake would put it modestly, so she answered while he was still thinking, "He saved the lives of three wolves from being trampled by Caribou."

Blake looked a little shy, and the male wolf looked at him, as did the female.

"Wh-Why? Why would a human do that?"

"Well…" he started, really unsure how to answer it, then he started with a slightly different answer, "There really isn't one reason, and I can't personally find all of the reasons, but I guess one would be that I'm not like other humans. I've been abandoned by my race multiple times, and on two of these occasions, it was a life-or-death situation." He said, and was content to leave it at that.

However, when the 5 wolves, including the pups, noticed Elena and Hannah's faces turn sad, they wanted to know more. Fortunately, the two adults knew enough common sense not to ask him directly.

Unfortunately, their pups did not.

"Why did they abandon you?" Asked the female pup, and also obviously the youngest. The pup stepped out from behind her parents, and sat in front of him with a quizzical look. Blake sighed, and he thought about how to answer, then his mind wandered to another question.

Why didn't the parents stop the young pup?

He looked at them, and realized they wanted to hear the answer too. His eyes locked with the mother's, and she seemed to be asking, can you tell her nicely?

Blake winked at her, and turned back to the pup.

"Well, I don't know why. It might be because they didn't want to try, or because they thought it would be to difficult." He said softly, and was surprised when the pup's expression turned from question, to sadness, and she said sadly,

"My family was abandoned too, we used to belong to a pack. They kicked us out."

Blake felt bad for the pup, but soon had a small bit of help to offer to the wolf.

"Hey, guess what? You just made me realize another reason I helped those three wolves." He said, and the wolf's ears pricked up, and she asked, "Really? What is it?"

Blake spoke soothingly, much better than even he knew he could, "Because I won't abandon them like I was. I helped, because don't care how difficult it gets." He paused a moment, and he pointed at her, "And I will not abandon you either. No matter how difficult it gets, I'll still be here, for you, and your family."

The wolf pup smiled broadly. He looked up to the parents, who no longer had incredibly nervous looks, but had slightly happy expressions, but still some nervousness in their features. By now, the other pups thought it was time to greet him too. They came out from behind their parents, and Blake continued to speak in a soothing voice to them as they asked questions.

That proved to be a mistake for him.

The female pup said, "You have a really pretty voice."

Blake didn't think anything of it, other than the statement had "pretty" in it, which sounded a little funny.

Hannah on the other hand, saw and opportunity in these words. Blake saw her grin widely, and he turned to her, knowing what she would say.

"Hannah, please don't-" he whispered, but she ignored him and said happily to the three wolf pups, "He does have a pretty voice, and guess what? He can sing too!"

Then Lily agreed, which only furthered his predicament, "Yeah! He can! The music is a little weird, but after you get used to it, it's really fun!"

Blake sighed, but immediately changed back to a happy expression when the three turned to him, and one squealed, "Really? Can you?" the wolf pup asked, wanting to confirm it with Blake.

Reluctantly, he nodded, and saw their faces light up, and they gasped.

This wasn't what he had in mind when he planned how this visit would go. Not that he really thought it would go exactly as he thought it might, but he diffinently didn't expect singing to come up.

"Please sing!" They chorused. Blake looked to the parents, who smiled at him. He sighed, realizing they wouldn't help him through this. In fact, he saw a little bit of anticipation in their eyes.

"Fine… but later! It's late right now, and you need sleep." He said, proud that he had found a way out of it. They all chorused again, but this time an unhappy "Awww"

However, their parents agreed, and sent them off to sleep. As Blake, Hannah and Elena walked away, they soon heard footsteps behind them. Blake turned to see the two wolves running up behind them. He paused to allow them to catch up, and then asked, "What do you need?"

The two shared a look, then the female said, "Well, we figured you didn't look tired, so we thought we could talk a bit." Then she paused, but added after a second, "And to apologize to you for our hostile behavior."

Blake held up his hands in a pausing gesture, and said, "No need to apologize, but if you want to talk, I'm always" he paused, then corrected himself, "Sorry, most of the time I'm available. Just stop by my-" but then stopped himself, as he realized he didn't really have a home.

Sure, he had stayed with Elena most of the time, but he couldn't stay in her cave the whole time.

"Well, I guess you'll just have to ask around, as I don't have a permanent home yet." He said, and saw Elena open her mouth to protest, so he spoke before she could, "And I can't stay with you, Elena, the whole time."

She closed her mouth, and was quiet, so he turned back to the two wolves, "But, for now, we can talk in Elena's home." He gestured for them to follow. It was a short walk, but none the less awkward. When they finally reached Elena's cave, and stepped inside, Blake started with names.

"Well, my name is Blake, this is Hannah," he gestured to Hannah, "This is Elena," he gestured to Elena, "And finally, this is Lily." He said, patting her on the head. The two wolves nodded to each of them, and when he finished, the male said,

"My name is Levi, and this here is Lucy. And the little ones are named Jenny, Dylan, and Ryan, but we can point them out next time you see them."

Blake nodded, and now that they had names down, Blake said, "What is it you wanted to speak about?"

Levi hesitated, and looked at Blake, who made an encouraging gesture which convinced Levi to speak,

"Well, we wanted to know first off, what kind of protection will our pups have? What weaponry do you have?"

Blake was excited to answer that one, but he said, "How about we show you that tomorrow? It's better if we were to show you rather than explain." Levi nodded, so Blake continued, "What else would you like to ask?"

The two thought for a moment, then Lucy asked, "What about this… Music thing? What is it?"

Blake laughed, and said, "Well, sorry, but that's another thing you'll have to wait until tomorrow to see, but know that it is entirely safe, and they will have fun."

The two nodded, and then Lucy yawned, and said, "Well, we have only one more question for you. I know you said it earlier, but… do you promise to protect our pups?"

Blake responded with a serious face and tone, "I swear to you, I would die before I see one of your pups hurt. I will fight 'till I die before I see this pack killed off."

They nodded, and sat for a moment before Levi said, "Well, we'd best go get some sleep. We'll meet back here in the morning? And you can show us all these things you have planned?"

"You bet'cha" Blake said, before waving them good bye. Now he turned to Hannah, Elena, and Lily.

All three were asleep. He chuckled softly, before standing, and glancing over his shoulder at them, left the cave. He didn't want to sleep. He didn't want to have another nightmare come and ruin his good mood.

Unfortunately for him, his next nightmare wouldn't come by sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**Well, sorry, but the last statement in chapter 5 wasn't meant for this chapter, it was sort of just to add suspense. There will be some action in this chapter, but not too much, but don't worry, it'll come soon!**

 **Some more music in this chapter too.**

Blake ended up going on watch after all.

While he was wandering the area, with his M16 shouldered, he came across the three wolves that volunteered to take his watch. They recognized him immediately, and he offered to walk with them. They agreed, and so he walked with them, talking and laughing. Blake's mind was still in a sort of fun-mode, when he noticed something. It was difficult to see because it was dark out, but there was still enough moon light for him to see it.

He knelt down, and looked much closer at it.

"Was ist das?" He asked himself in German. He spoke semi-Fluent German, as he had taken it all through High school. He glanced up at the other three, and saw confused looks.

"Oh, sorry, I was speaking German." He said, and saw their looks no less confused, and explained further, "Its just another language I can speak."

"Why do you need to know multiple languages? And why have we never heard another human speaking this… German?" Asked one of the three wolves, and the other looked like they had the same question.

Blake had realized that what he found was useless, just an old shotgun shell, probably from some poachers. He discarded it and stood. Now, he thought about the question.

"Well, the reason you wouldn't have heard any others speaking German would be that in this area, the dominant language is English. They only speak German in other parts of the world. As for why I speak it… well, I guess I learned it because it was fun."

"Really? What kind of fun?" Asked another of them.

"Well, probably not the kind of fun you guys would like, but I thought it might be fun, because I could confuse people by speaking in it. Plus, you could tell someone a compliment, but with the way the words sound, it always make the speaker sound angry."

"How so?"

"Well, here, I'll give you an example," He said, then pointed at a tree, and said, "Das ist Schön." Then to the three wolves, "Ihr seid Schön nicht."

He paused a moment, then translated, "I said, 'That is Beautiful' and then, 'You guys are not beautiful.'"

The wolves smiled, and one said with mock-hurt, "But that isn't a compliment." And they all laughed lightly before continuing their walk.

Blake went on speaking and translating German to the three wolves the rest of the night. It was random phrases and such, but he didn't bother trying to teach them any of it. The three found it very interesting, and Blake thought that maybe another time he could do something with it.

Soon, the sky was beginning to brighten, and they made their way back to where the next watch would replace them. As they came into the small clearing, the new wolves growled at him a moment, but soon recognized him and stopped.

Blake said farewell to the three wolves, and walked back to Elena's cave. He walked in, and saw that Lily, Elena and Hannah were sleeping. He walked in quietly, but still ended up waking Elena. She lifted her head up, and smiled when she saw him.

"Morning." He whispered happily, and she replied, "Where have you been all night?"

"Ah, it doesn't matter. You three look like you slept well." He said, motioning to the other two.

"Yeah, I guess we did. I'll take Lily home, you wake Hannah, and we'll meet over at Lucy's cave?"

Blake nodded, and waited for Elena to finish picking up Lily and leaving. He walked over to Hannah, and looked at her a moment. She was smiling peacefully. He reached down and gently shook her shoulder, and watched her eyes flutter open.

She smiled at him, and Blake couldn't help but smile back.

"Good morning" She said, before stretching and sitting up.

"What plans do we have for today?" Hannah asked.

"Well, after we… after I sing for these new wolves, thank you for that by the way" he said sarcastically before continuing, "I thought we could go out and look for more of them."

"We?" She asked, and Blake nodded, saying, "Yes, we. I'm coming with this time, that way I get to know the terrain as well."

That statement was partially true, but the other part was that he didn't want her out there alone. Then, as if she had read his mind, she said, "You know I'll have Jack with me, right? I'll be safe. Plus, I can take care of myself too."

Blake shrugged, and said, "I know, but I am still coming with."

Hannah gave in, and said, "Alright, fine." She continued with a smile, "Now let's make some food."

Blake didn't know why she smiled when she said that, until she walked out to the truck, and pulled out a cooler with food. It wasn't the fact that she pulled out a cooler of food, it was what she pulled out…

"Is…. Is that…. Bacon?" He asked, and saw her smile again.

"A whole 10 pounds of bacon are in this red little cooler." She said happily. Blake wasted no time in gathering some wood from the surrounding woods, and returning. They had a fire going quickly, and soon the air surrounding their little camp was filled with the sound of sizzling and popping bacon.

Hannah noticed Blake was incredibly excited about this food, and when she asked why, Blake responded,

"Have you forgotten that I've been living on the run the last few years? I've not tasted bacon in years!"

Hannah smiled at him, but felt a pinch of guilt. Within a few minutes, there were other wolves showing up to see what the smell was. Hannah shooed them away like children, and hit them on the nose with her fork when ever they reached for it.

Blake laughed at the sight of Hannah scolding the full grown wolves as if they were naughty children. Soon, Lily and Kate showed up. Of course, Hannah still told them no, but not with a fork.

"You two can have a little bit later, right now it's to hot." She said, and the two reluctantly sat down next to Blake, and waited.

When the bacon was finished, and the dishes were cleaned, there were only a few slices left. Of course, Hannah only opened a few packages, and still had a bit left. But, with the remaining pieces in hand, they walked over to the cave of Lucy and Levi.

They walked in, and the smell of the food immediately had the entire wolf family on their feet. The three pups ran over quickly, but Levi and Lucy were a little slower.

"What is that?" one of the male pups asked, and Blake responded, "Its called bacon. Want a piece?"

They all chorused, "Yes!"

Blake threw each of the three a piece, and when they finished, Lucy walked up, and said, "Well, Blake, Hannah, meet Jenny, Dylan, and Ryan." She pointed to each, Jenny was the only female. Dylan was a fairly standard looking wolf by Blake's standard, a medium grey color, with lighter colored ears. Ryan was a little different, he was a dark black color, with white paws and a bit of dark grey on his ears.

Blake smiled at them, as did Hannah. After a second, Hannah walked forward with something in her hands. Blake felt his fear rise slightly, as he saw it was her speaker.

Oh no, he thought, realizing she hadn't forgotten about that.

"What is that?" Lucy asked, a little worried.

"It's a speaker. It's going to play the music that Blake is going to sing to." Hannah replied, looking at Blake, who had a very unamused look. He smiled quickly when the three pups turned their attention back to him.

He glanced at Hannah, who had a smug look on her face, and her eyes said, there's no getting out of this

Blake glared momentarily at her, then turned to the three pups with a smile and said, "That's right! I'm going to sing for you!" Internally, he was screaming.

Without fear, he could fight bears, run from Drug Lords, fly a Jet at supersonic speeds, shoot other planes down and fight a war between wolves. And yet he was terrified of singing.

He pushed the fear down, and waited for Hannah to finish setting up her speaker, but with every passing second, it became harder and harder to push the nervousness down. When she finally stood, Blake could barely keep up his confident look.

Hannah walked over, and showed him the song she had chosen on her IPod.

"Really? That one? Isn't it kind of…. A bit much? It's their first song." Blake said, and Hannah realized her choice was a bit of an aggressive rock song.

"Here, how about I choose one?" Blake offered, and she handed him the IPod. He kept shaking his head as he scrolled through the hundreds of songs she had, but soon, he hesitated at one. A moment later, he shook his head and kept going. Hannah had seen this before, and quickly snatched the IPod from him and went back one.

"When will you learn" she whispered to herself, and smiled before continuing, "So, this is the song, huh? Here we go!" she yelled, and hit play. The song immediately blared very loudly, scaring them all.

After picking up her IPod off the ground, she paused it.

"Oops, sorry about that." She said, and turned the volume down.

Well, now that they're terrified… Blake thought, maybe it wouldn't be a good idea to do this

But for the second time, Hannah seemed to have read his mind, and said, "Don't worry, when Blake sings, it won't be like that. Because you are still going to do this, right Blake?" the last part was phrased as a question, but her tone made it sound like a command.

"Of course." Blake responded, and the pups, which now included Kate and Lily, sat down near Lucy and Levi. However, Blake noticed that both Lily and Kate looked ready to start dancing again. Not that it was actual dancing, but it was close enough for Blake to think it was.

The last song he had sung at Hannah's cabin was good, but his voice didn't quite match the singer's. This song, however, his voice matched a bit closer, and it seemed a bit better.

This song, some of you may have heard, it's fairly common. It's, Soldiers, by OTHERWISE

Just search it on YouTube if you want to listen to it, if you don't want to…. Don't do it.

He waited while the song started, and watched the new wolves' eyes filled with curiosity. He started, tapping his feet to the beat,

"It's time to strap our boots on, this is a perfect day to die"

"Wipe the blood out of our eyes"

"In this life there's no surrender"

"And there's nothing left for us to do, find the strength to see this through"

"We are the ones who will never be broken"

"With our final breath, we'll fight to the death"

He motioned to Hannah and himself,

"We are soldiers, we are soldiers!"

"We are soldiers!"

He bobbed his head to the beat a little, and smiled as Lily and Kate jumped up, with the other 3 pups not far behind,

"I stand here right beside you, tonight we're fighting for our lives!"

"Let me here your battle cry, Your battle cry!"

"We are the ones who will never be broken!"

"With out final breath, we'll fight to the death, we are soldiers"

"We are soldiers!"

"We are the ones who will not go unspoken"

"No we will not sleep, we are not cheap, we are soldiers!"

"We are soldiers!"

"Yeah!"

"We stand shoulder to shoulder, we stand shoulder to shoulder, we stand shoulder to shoulder"

"You can't erase us, you'll just have to face us!"

"We stand shoulder to shoulder! We stand shoulder to shoulder! We stand shoulder to shoulder!"

"You can't erase us, you'll just have to face us!"

"We are the ones who will never be broken! With our final breath, we'll fight to the death"

"We are soldiers, we are soldiers!"

"We are the ones who will not go unspoken"

"No we will not sleep, we are not cheap, we are soldiers!"

"We are soldiers!"

"Yeah!"

"Ooooo-Woahaahhooo, woahahohhhhhwoahoooohhh, We are soldiers!"

"Woaaahhh-woaahhhooohh-woo-ahh-ooohhh, We are soldiers!"

"Woooo-aaaahhh-oooohhh-woo-aaahhh-oooohhh-aaaa, We are soldiers!"

He finished, and looked at them with a smile. Hannah giggled at him, and then at Kate and Lily, as they crashed into the other 3 pups.

"Not bad, you should be at our next howl." Said a voice behind him. Blake spun around, and saw Winston, along with half a dozen other wolves who all looked equally impressed.

"Oh, uhh… thank you." Blake said unsurely, and the other wolves dispersed, knowing his song was over. Winston smiled, and nodded before walking out as well. He turned and looked at his original audience, and asked, "When did they show up?"

"About the same time that the song started." Lucy replied. Blake didn't really care, but was trying calm the three pups, who were begging him to sing another song.

"No, one is enough." He replied to their pleads.

"Aww, but it was so good!" One said, and Blake smiled at the compliment, but still replied, "No, I'm tired now. Maybe another day."

They were reluctant, but finally gave in with the maybe. Blake sighed with relief, more so because Hannah didn't push him to sing again. Now he turned to their parents, and said,

"Well, Hannah and I have some work to get done, so we'll see you another time."

They both nodded, and said farewell. Blake left Kate and Lily there to play with the three pups, and followed Hannah over to the ATV.

"Where's Jack?" Blake asked, looking around.

"I don't know… he should be here." Hannah replied.

They both turned to the sound of running wolves, and saw Winston running alongside 4 others, including Jack. They didn't stop as they ran right past, but Jack yelled to them,

"Come on, let's go you two!"

Blake looked at Hannah, confused, but she merely shrugged and said, "Don't look at me, I don't know what's going on."

Hannah grabbed her shotgun, and they ran off in the direction they saw the wolves go. Of course, they didn't even try to keep up with them, as they knew there was no way the two humans could ran fast enough.

Soon, they came to a clearing, but stopped at the edge, just out of sight. There were some new wolves here, and they didn't look friendly. Blake only caught the end of their conversation, but it was enough for him to piece it all together,

"-Meet back here at midday. Oh, and Come alone…." the wolf said, and walked away. Winston sighed, and turned around and started to walk.

"What was that all about?" Blake asked, and startled Winston.

"Blake? Is that you?" he asked, and when his eyes focused on Blake's form, his eyes went wide, "Good god, I can barely see you!"

"Really?" Hannah asked, startling him again.

"Hannah? Your there too?!" Blake was going to reply, but he saw Winston's features light up as if he had an idea…

"What? What are you planning right now?" Blake asked, stepping out of the bush, and out of the dark shadow of the tree behind him.

He saw the wolf frown in anger, and he said, "Well, those wolves that were here came to deliver a message."

"What message?" Hannah asked, but received a glare from Winston, and she realized that if she kept her mouth shut, he would have told her.

"He came to tell me to meet Austin here in this clearing at midday. And alone."

"Do you know why?" Blake asked, but Winston shook his head and continued, "No, I don't, but what ever his reason, I have a feeling it's not a good one. But that's where the idea you just asked about comes in. He doesn't know we have you two yet, so maybe, if you can hide here again, then you can make sure he doesn't try anything."

Blake nodded, seeing his plan.

"That's a great idea." He said, then whispered to Hannah, "About time for one of those"

He saw Winston's ears twitch, and he said, "You understand I can hear you, right? I'm right here." Neither Blake or Hannah replied, but instead shared a smile and a laugh.

"Yes, yes, laugh all you want. It's not long before midday, so prepare yourselves."

"Prepare for what?" Blake asked.

"Well, I'm hoping for a different ending than I'm thinking of, but be ready for a fight."

45 minutes later…

Blake was behind and to the left of Winston, hidden in the bushes. Hannah was on the right, hidden in a low tree. They both were smeared with mud and leaves, more to suppress their smell than to camouflage.

Blake just thought it looked cool.

They waited, while Winston was in the clearing, waiting. They were upwind as well, which went to conceal them even more.

A twig snapped. They heard footsteps, and soon, the wolf they assumed was Austin, walked into the clearing. Blake now knew why he was able to take over the other pack so fast…

This wolf was huge. More like a small bear than a wolf. His fur was Jet-Black, and had a small white bit of fur on his head, between his eyes.

"Hello, Winston." Austin said, with somewhat deep voice.

"What do you want, Austin?"

"Just want to talk with you." He said, then didn't continue.

"About?" Winston prompted, and Austin laughed, and said, "Oh, no. I don't mean HERE. We have to talk somewhere else…"

Winston's nose twitched as he sniffed the air, and he said, "I thought you were going to be alone."

"No, I told YOU to come alone. I never said a thing about me being alone." Austin replied with a sick smile, and 4 Wolves came out of the trees behind him.

"Well, when you tell someone to come alone, it implies you would be alone as well." Winston said, completely confident. Austin frowned, as he didn't know why Winston wasn't scared right now, he had him outnumbered 5 to 1.

"So what? I broke a rule, who cares? It won't matter in the end. Now, you can come quietly…. Or we can force you to come, and that will include a lot of pain."

Winston smiled, and said, "Oh, trust me, I'm not going anywhere." Austin frowned again, and Winston continued, "You see, I broke the rules too."

Blake took that as his cue, and moved forward out of the bush. Hannah had the same idea, and she jumped out of the tree and hit the ground with a roll. They walked forwards until they stood right next to Winston.

"What's this? HUMANS?! Have you gone mad?" Austin yelled, and Winston replied, "Yes, Humans. But they aren't like the others, they actually want to help us. Unlike you." He added the last part with his voice full of anger and accusation.

"Well, if you think they can save you, they won't. You will all die."

"Why? What have we done?" Winston asked, but Austin laughed evilly and said, "What haven't you done?" Before turning and walking away, and the 4 wolves followed. Just before he went out of sight, he called, "I'll see you soon."

And he was gone.

They stood there in the clearing, silent, for a few minutes. Soon, Blake broke the silence,

"We have a lot to do."

"Like what?" Winston asked. Blake and Hannah shared a look, then nodded to each other before Blake said, "We are going to turn this place into a fortress."

"We? Why don't you Just leave? You've seen what we're up against, we have no chance!"

"Why would we leave? We both have so much here now." Hannah said, and glanced at Blake, who nodded and said with a hint of sadness, "Exactly, this place is the only thing I have left in the world. I'm not leaving."

Winston sighed, and repeated, "But we still don't strand a chance."

Blake smiled, as did Hannah, and he said, "Yes we do."

Winston's attention snapped back, and he asked, "What do you mean?" then added quickly, "And don't say something like, 'We have each other' or some bullshit!"

Blake was slightly surprised by the outburst and language, but said, "No, I'm not. Like I said before, let's fortify this place. We can make Pit traps, barriers, defensive positions that work to our favor."

Winston still looked confused, so Blake clarified a little more, "Since he has power in Numbers, we make a battle ground that force his numbers to fight in groups, split them up, even the odds."

Realization dawned in his eyes, and he smiled before saying slowly, "Well… let's get building." And turned to walk towards their home.

 **Ok, so, I've had a slight problem in trying to find out what to call the area they live, so I'm going to stick with just "home" but know that I mean caves and stuff, not actually houses. Also, I'm sorry for these somewhat short chapters compared to my other story, but I'm trying to get a pace going. My schedule is so unpredictable that it's difficult, and I steal time for writhing when I can, and then post them as fast as I can, just in case something shows up and prevents me from doing so. Plus, I have to proof read these before I post them, because the autocorrect on my phone is a real pain in the ass sometimes.**

 **For example, it changed "saw" to "was" some times, and it likes to try and change a word from the past tense form to the present tense, and it shouldn't be.**

 **Just a bit of clarification, 10 pounds of Bacon isn't a lot, it's just heavy.**

 **One last note… yes I do speak German. I don't know very much, but I know German. Also, don't Google what I said, then tell me I am wrong! Google does not give Conjugation for words, so it probably won't be correct.**

 **Bye**!


	7. Status Update

I am terribly sorry to the few people that are reading this story. I haven't even begun to type the next chapter, but it's because it was Peak Season here at UPS, and that means that PM shifts are longer, and the days I don't have school, I have to take AM shifts too.

Basically, that means getting up at 2:30 in the morning, working my ass off until 11:00 sometimes noon, then sat lunch, go home, sleep, then get up at 3:15 PM and go back and work til around 12:30 then come back home, and repeat.

It has been cold, and dark on both shifts. Snow, wind, and we even had a few planes crash, which only added to the stress.

Anyway, enough of my bitching, Peak Season is over, and I will get back to writing ASAP! Thank you for your continued patience and support!


	8. Putting on hold

I know I've said a lot about getting back to typing this story, and I know I keep breaking rules by posting just Author notes instead of chapters, but after coming back from this big pause, I've realized something.

I have lost interest in this story.

I don't want to write it anymore, as I've run out of ideas for it.

I'm so sorry to those of you who this disappoints, but I promise I will get back to it, I just have to find some ideas. I could, of course, just power through my discomfort and get a final chapter out, but I think that would be a bad idea.

I don't want to rush the ending, and I think that is exactly what would happen. I've worked hard on this story, too hard to just half-ass the last chapter. So, I will wait, maybe try writing some other stories that I have ideas for, and I'll keep this story on hold.

Again, I'm sorry to the few that this will disappoint, but I really think this is the best Solution.


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